ver películas
/beɾ pelikulas/from spelling rules
To watch movies in Spanish is ver películas.
This phrase is used to describe the act of looking at a cinema film or a motion picture for entertainment. You can specify the genre by adding terms like comedia (comedy), terror (horror), romance (romance), acción (action) or drama (drama).
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase consists of the verb ver, which literally means to see and the noun películas.
Which one should you use?
While you might be tempted to use mirar películas because mirar means to look at, the verb ver is the more natural and common choice for watching movies or television in Spanish.
How does it change in a sentence?
To refer to a single movie, replace the plural películas with the singular película preceded by the indefinite article una, resulting in ver una película. If you want to express the continuous action of watching movies, use the gerund viendo with películas to form viendo películas.
Did you know?
- While película means 'movie', its original meaning is 'thin skin' or 'membrane'. This refers to the thin strip of celluloid film used in early cinema projectors.
- The verb ver shares an ancient linguistic root with the English words 'wit' and 'wise'. This is because, in many ancient languages, the concept of 'seeing' was closely tied to the concept of 'knowing'.
- In many Spanish-speaking countries, people often say they are viendo la tele even when they are actually watching a feature-length film at home. This treats the movie as part of the general television experience.
Examples in context
- Solíamos ver películas juntos.We used to watch movies together.This sentence is useful for showing how to use the phrase ver películas in the past tense.Tatoeba #9980064 by manufrutos, translation #4502745 by CK
- Me gusta ver películas en mi tiempo libreI enjoy watching movies in my free time
- Este fin de semana quiero disfrutar de una película nuevaThis weekend, I want to enjoy a new movie
- Vamos a echarnos una película esta nocheLet's watch a movie tonight
- Mis amigos y yo nos juntamos a mirar películas los fines de semanaMy friends and I get together to watch movies on weekends
- Me encanta ver comedias románticas los viernes por la nocheI love watching romantic comedies on Friday nights
- Deberías ver esta película, ¡es muy emocionante!You should watch this movie, it's very exciting!
- No me gusta ver películas de terror, me asustan muchoI don't like watching horror movies, they scare me a lot
- Me encanta ver películas de terror.I love to watch horror movies.
- ¿Quieres ver películas en mi casa?Do you want to watch movies at my house?
Example conversation
Elena and Mateo are deciding what to do on a Friday night.
- Elena¿Qué quieres hacer hoy, Mateo?What do you want to do today, Mateo?
- MateoPodemos ver películas en el cine.We can watch movies at the cinema.
- ElenaEs una buena idea.That is a good idea.
- MateoPerfecto, yo compro las entradas.Perfect, I will buy the tickets.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ver, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
