adivinar
/adibiˈnaɾ/
To guess in Spanish is adivinar.
Adivinar is used when you are trying to find the correct answer to a specific secret, such as a riddle or a password. If you are instead guessing or estimating a quantity or an outcome in a formal context, you may use calcular (to calculate or to estimate).
Which one should you use?
While adivinar means to guess a specific answer or secret, suponer is used when you are making an assumption or an educated guess based on logic.
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun for a riddle, which is something meant to be guessed, is adivinanza. A person who guesses or predicts the future is called an adivino (masculine) or adivina (feminine).
How do you pronounce it?
/adibiˈnaɾ/
Did you know?
- The word adivinar shares a root with the Latin word for 'divine', suggesting that guessing was once viewed as an act of interpreting the will of the gods.
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, adivinanzas are traditional folk games used to teach children logic and lateral thinking.
- If you are estimating a number or cost, using adivinar can sound like you are playing a game rather than making a professional estimate.
Examples in context
- Una buena contraseña debería ser difícil de adivinar pero fácil de recordar.A good password should be difficult to guess, but easy to remember.This sentence shows how to describe the difficulty of guessing a password using adivinar.Tatoeba #834628 by Shishir, translation #799927 by darinmex
- Por favor, elija una palabra clave que sea fácil de recordar y al mismo tiempo difícil de adivinar.Please choose a password that's easy to remember but also hard to guess.This sentence uses adivinar to describe a password that is hard to guess.Tatoeba #3447954 by gianich73, translation #9365815 by DJ_Saidez
- El prestidigitador que contrataron para la fiesta de mi hermano era muy malo: me hizo sacar una carta de la baraja, pero no fue capaz de adivinarla.The magician they hired for my brother's party was so bad. He made me pick a card out of a deck, but he wasn't able to guess which one it was.This sentence describes a magician who was unable to use adivinar to guess a card.Tatoeba #9703853 by Shishir, translation #9733191 by DJ_Saidez
- Creo que puedo adivinar su respuesta correcta.I believe I can guess your correct answer.
- No puedo adivinar el número exacto, pero diría que hay alrededor de 50 participantes.I can't guess the exact number, but I would say there are around 50 participants.
- Supongo que ya sabes de qué se trata esto.I guess you already know what this is about.
- Supongo que no te gustó la película.I guess you didn't like the movie.
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Alejandro and Lucía are playing a game at a cafe.
- AlejandroLucía, intenta adivinar qué regalo te compré.Lucía, try to guess what gift I bought you.
- LucíaNo puedo adivinarlo, dame una pista.I cannot guess it, give me a hint.
- AlejandroEs algo que te gusta mucho.It is something you like a lot.
- Lucía¡Creo que ya puedo adivinar qué es!I think I can guess what it is now!
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry adivinar, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
