me he equivocado
/me e ekibokado/from spelling rules
In Spanish, 'I am mistaken' is translated as me he equivocado.
This phrase is used to admit that one has made a mistake or is wrong about something.
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, me he equivocado means 'I have mistaken myself'.
Which one should you use?
There is a subtle difference between me he equivocado and estoy equivocado. The former focuses on the action of having made an error, while the latter focuses on the state of being wrong.
How does it change in a sentence?
The form me he equivocado uses the present perfect to describe a recent mistake. If you want to describe a completed mistake in the past, you can use the preterite me equivoqué. To tell someone else that they are mistaken, you would change the pronoun and verb conjugation to te has equivocado. Note that a female speaker should use estaba equivocada instead of estaba equivocado when saying 'I was mistaken'.
Did you know?
- In some Spanish-speaking cultures, people avoid saying me he equivocado and instead use the phrase me he liado, which literally means 'I have tied myself up'.
- The word equivocado shares a root with the English word 'equivocate', which means to use ambiguous language to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself.
- The verb equivocar comes from a Latin root meaning 'to call with equal voices', referring to the confusion of one person's voice with another's.
Examples in context
- Me equivoqué al dar esa informaciónI am mistaken in providing that information
- Pido disculpas, estaba equivocado/a sobre ese asuntoI apologize, I was mistaken about that matter
- Cometí un error al evaluar esa situaciónI made a mistake in assessing that situation
- No tenía razón en mi suposición inicialI was wrong in my initial assumption
- Me equivoqué al decir eso, me disculpoI am mistaken in saying that, I apologize
- ¡La pifié! Esa no era la respuesta correctaI goofed! That wasn't the right answer
- Me confundí al interpretar tus indicacionesI got confused when interpreting your instructions
- Lo siento, me he equivocado con la fecha.I am sorry, I was mistaken about the date.
- Me he equivocado, no era ese el camino.I was mistaken, that wasn't the way.
- Creo que me he equivocado en el cálculo.I think I have made a mistake in the calculation.
Example conversation
Javier and Sofía are looking at a restaurant bill.
- JavierSofía, creo que me he equivocado con el total.Sofía, I think I have made a mistake with the total.
- SofíaEs verdad, nos han cobrado de más.It's true, they have overcharged us.
- JavierPerdón, me he equivocado al sumar los platos.Sorry, I was mistaken when adding up the dishes.
- SofíaNo te preocupes, Javier, suele pasar.Don't worry, Javier, it happens.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries equivocado, he, me, CC BY-SA 4.0.
