Which one should you use?
While te extrañé is common in Latin America, in Spain, the phrase te eché de menos is more frequently used to express the same sentiment.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Argentina and parts of Uruguay, the phrase Te extrañé un resto is commonly used to mean "I missed you a lot."
How does it change in a sentence?
The form te extrañé uses the first-person singular preterite tense, indicating a completed period of missing someone in the past. If you want to emphasize the ongoing feeling of missing someone over a period of time, you can use the imperfect tense te extrañaba (I was missing you). To say "I missed you" to someone you address with formal respect, replace the pronoun te with lo (masculine) or la (feminine), resulting in lo extrañé or la extrañé.
How do you pronounce it?
/te eɡstɾaɲe/
Did you know?
- In Spain, the phrase echar de menos literally translates to 'to throw of less', which sounds nonsensical to English speakers.
- The word extrañar shares a root with the English word 'strange', as both derive from the Latin extraneus, meaning 'foreign' or 'from the outside'.
- While extrañar means 'to miss' in Latin America, in Spain it more often means 'to find something strange or odd'.
Examples in context
- Te extrañé.I missed you.This sentence is a simple way to say "I missed you."Tatoeba #4484502 by cueyayotl, translation #407574 by Scott
- ¡Te extrañé!I missed you!This sentence uses an exclamation to emphasize the feeling of having missed someone.Tatoeba #1825657 by hayastan, translation #1078010 by keira_n
- Te extrañé hoy.I missed you today.This sentence shows how to specify the time period by adding "today."Tatoeba #1717220 by hayastan, translation #1574399 by CM
- Estimado Sr. García, le extrañé durante su viaje.Dear Mr. García, I missed you during your trip.
- ¡Te extrañé mucho mientras estabas de viaje!I missed you a lot while you were traveling!
- ¡Me hizo falta verte en la reunión!I missed seeing you in the meeting!
- He sentido su ausencia en la oficina.I have felt your absence in the office.
- 4 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Sofía and Alejandro are reuniting at the airport after a long trip.
- Sofía¡Alejandro, te extrañé mucho!Alejandro, I missed you so much!
- AlejandroYo también te extrañé, Sofía.I missed you too, Sofía.
- SofíaQué bueno que ya estás aquí.I am so glad you are finally here.
- AlejandroYo también tenía muchas ganas de verte.I also really wanted to see you.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
