Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA |
|---|---|
| representante | /repɾesenˈtante/ |
| representativo | /repɾesentaˈtibo/ |
In Spanish, the translation depends on the part of speech. Use representante when referring to a person acting as an agent, a member of a legislative body or a company agent. Use representativo when you mean 'typical' or 'characteristic' of a certain group or category.
Which one should you use?
Use representante as a noun to refer to a person, such as a politician or a company agent. Use representativo as an adjective to describe something that is typical of a larger group.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun representante is common-gender, so you use el representante for a man and la representante for a woman. The adjective representativo must agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies, such as representativa, representativos or representativas.
How do you pronounce it?
/repɾesenˈtante/
Did you know?
- The word representante shares its root with presente, coming from the Latin 'repraesentare', which literally means to make something present again.
- The adjective representativo is often used in art history to describe 'figurative' art, meaning it depicts recognizable objects from the real world.
- In Spanish, representante can refer to a legal guardian or a parent acting on behalf of a child, whereas in English 'representative' usually implies a professional or political role.
Examples in context
- Le nombramos nuestro representante.We appointed him as our representative.This sentence is useful for showing how to use the noun representante when someone is appointed.Tatoeba #1001081 by Shishir, translation #22706 by CK
- Tú eliges a tu representante votando.You elect your representative by voting.This sentence is useful for showing how to use the noun representante in the context of voting.Tatoeba #1348422 by marcelostockle, translation #680795 by Source_VOA
- Ellos lo eligieron como su representante.They chose him as their representative.This sentence is useful for showing how to use the noun representante when someone is chosen for a role.Tatoeba #2133599 by marcelostockle, translation #1417735 by Eldad
- El Sr. García es nuestro representante legal.Mr. García is our legal representative.
- El Dr. Ramírez actúa como delegado de la organización en esta conferencia.Dr. Ramírez is acting as the organization's delegate in this conference.
- Necesito contactar al agente de ventas para realizar un pedido.I need to contact the sales representative to place an order.
- Nuestro gestor de cuentas hablará con usted para resolver cualquier inquietud.Our account representative will speak to you to address any concerns.
- 5 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mateo and María are discussing a sample of data for a project.
- MateoEste grupo no es representante de la población.This group is not representative of the population.
- MaríaTienes razón, necesitamos más personas.You are right, we need more people.
- MateoBusquemos un sector más representante.Let's look for a more representative sector.
- MaríaDe acuerdo, yo me encargo de eso.Agreed, I will handle that.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “representative” translations and entries representante, representativo, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
