las escondidas
/las eskondidas/from spelling rules
In Spanish, hide in seek is las escondidas.
This phrase refers to the children's game where one player closes their eyes and counts while the other players hide.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Mexico, the game is known as escondidillas or escondidas. In Argentina, the term used is escondidas. In Spain, the phrase juego del escondite is used to refer to the game.
Did you know?
- In some Spanish-speaking regions, the person seeking doesn't just count, but shouts ¡listos o no, allá voy!, which translates to 'ready or not, here I come'.
- While the game is las escondidas, if you want to tell someone 'to hide' as a command, you must use the reflexive form escóndete, which literally means 'hide yourself'.
- The word las in las escondidas comes from the Latin illās, which was the accusative feminine plural form of ille.
Examples in context
- ¿Quieren jugar a las escondidas?Do you want to play hide and seek?
- Estábamos jugando al escondite y nadie me encontraba.We were playing hide and seek, and nobody could find me.
- Vamos a jugar a las escondidas.Let's play hide and seek.
- A los niños les encantan las escondidas.Children love playing hide and seek.
- ¿Quieres jugar a las escondidas en el parque?Do you want to play hide and seek in the park?
Example conversation
Two siblings are playing in the garden.
- SofíaJavier, ¿jugamos a las escondidas?Javier, shall we play hide and seek?
- Javier¡Sí! Yo cuento primero.Yes! I will count first.
- SofíaEstá bien, cierra los ojos.Okay, close your eyes.
- JavierUno, dos, tres…One, two, three…
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries las, CC BY-SA 4.0.
