pasar el rato con amigos
/pasaɾ el ɾato kon amiɡos/from spelling rules
To hang out with friends in Spanish is pasar el rato con amigos.
The phrase is used to describe spending time relaxing or socializing with friends in an informal way. Depending on the specific context of your social activity, other phrases may be more precise: salir con amigos is used if the hanging out involves leaving the house, such as going to a park or a bar, while quedar con amigos is often used when you are specifically planning to meet up with them.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase pasar el rato literally means 'to pass the time'.
Which one should you use?
For a more colloquial feel, you can use juntarse con amigos, which means 'getting together with friends'. If the activity involves going out to a specific venue, use salir con amigos to mean 'to go out with friends'.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
Juntarse con amigos is a common and slightly more colloquial way to express hanging out or meeting up with friends. For a more polite and neutral way to say you are spending time with friends, you can use pasar tiempo con amigos.
Did you know?
- Spanish speakers often use the phrase estamos quedando to describe hanging out with someone they are dating, even if they are not yet in a formal relationship.
- If you want to sound like a local in many Latin American countries, you might use the verb parchar instead of pasar el rato to mean hanging out.
- The word rato in the phrase pasar el rato comes from the Latin word raptus, which means 'a seizing' or 'a snatching'.
Examples in context
- Me gusta pasar tiempo con amigos los fines de semanaI enjoy spending time with friends on weekends
- Vamos a quedar con amigos en el parque esta tardeWe are going to meet up with friends at the park this afternoon
- Me gusta juntarme con amigos para tomar café los domingosI enjoy getting together with friends to have coffee on Sundays
- El viernes vamos a hacer botellón con nuestros amigosOn Friday, we are going to hang out and have drinks with our friends
- Me gusta pasar el rato con mis amigos en el parque.I like to hang out with my friends in the park.
- Me gusta pasar el rato con amigos los fines de semana.I like to hang out with friends on weekends.
- A veces prefiero pasar el rato con amigos en el parque.Sometimes I prefer to hang out with friends in the park.
- ¿Quieres pasar el rato con amigos hoy por la tarde?Do you want to hang out with friends this afternoon?
Example conversation
Sofía and Mateo are talking about their plans for Friday night.
- SofíaMateo, ¿qué vas a hacer mañana por la noche?Mateo, what are you doing tomorrow night?
- MateoVoy a pasar el rato con amigos en el parque.I am going to hang out with friends in the park.
- Sofía¿Puedo ir con ustedes?Can I go with you all?
- Mateo¡Claro que sí, Sofía! Te esperamos.Of course, Sofía! We'll wait for you.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries con, el, pasar, rato, CC BY-SA 4.0.
