eres malo
/eɾes malo/from spelling rules
In Spanish, "you are mean" is expressed as eres malo.
This phrase is used to tell someone that they are unkind or cruel. Note that the word malo can mean both "mean" and "bad", so depending on the context, the phrase can be interpreted as "you are a bad person".
Which one should you use?
While eres malo is a common way to say someone is mean or bad, you can use eres un malvado if you want to emphasize that someone is truly wicked or villainous rather than just unkind. For a different nuance, Eres una persona desagradable translates to "You are an unpleasant person".
How does it change in a sentence?
If you are speaking to a woman, you must change the adjective to the feminine form eres mala. Additionally, to say "you are mean" using the formal usted, use es malo instead of eres malo.
How do you pronounce it?
/eɾes malo/
Did you know?
- In some contexts, calling someone malo can be a compliment, such as describing a musician or athlete who is 'bad' in the sense of being dangerously good or skilled.
- While malo describes a person's character, the phrase estás malo is used to say someone is sick or tastes bad, depending on the context.
- The word eres is a linguistic fossil from ancient Latin. It is actually a relic of the future tense, meaning 'you will be', which survived even though modern Spanish usually uses es for the present tense.
Examples in context
- Deja de molestar, eres malo.Stop bothering me, you are mean.
- No quiero jugar contigo porque eres malo.I don't want to play with you because you are mean.
Example conversation
Alejandro took María's toy without asking.
- María¡Devuélveme eso, eres malo!Give that back to me, you are mean!
- AlejandroNo soy malo, solo es una broma.I am not mean, it is just a joke.
- MaríaNo me parece una broma.It doesn't seem like a joke to me.
- AlejandroEstá bien, lo siento, María.Fine, I am sorry, María.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries eres, malo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
