¡siéntate, chico!
/ˈsjentate ˈt͡ʃiko/word by word
The English phrase "sit down, boy!" is translated into Spanish as ¡siéntate, chico!
This phrase is a command used to tell a male person or animal to take a seat. In Spanish, calling a child or a pet chico is a common way to address them, similar to how an English speaker might use "boy" or "kid".
Which one should you use?
While Siéntate, chico. is used for a boy, you may also hear Siéntate, muchacho. to mean "Sit down, lad."
How does it change in a sentence?
The word siéntate is the imperative or command form of the reflexive verb sentarse, which means "to sit oneself down".
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈsjentate ˈtʃiko/
Did you know?
- The word chico may actually have roots in the Yucatec Maya word chiʼik, meaning 'son' or 'child', which was later adopted into Spanish.
- If you were speaking to a group of boys, you would have to change the command to the plural form, siéntense, chicos!
- Depending on the region, chico can shift from meaning 'boy' to meaning 'small' when used as an adjective, such as un perro chico for a 'small dog'.
Example conversation
Daniel is training his young dog in the park.
- Daniel¡Siéntate, chico!Sit down, boy!
- MaríaEl perro no te hace caso.The dog is not listening to you.
- DanielYa casi lo logra.He almost has it.
- MaríaTen paciencia con él.Have patience with him.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (siéntate, chico) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries chico, CC BY-SA 4.0.
