An idiom or a set phrase is a group of words whose meaning cannot be predicted from the individual meaning of its separate parts. Idioms can be challenging for you, but learning them will help you develop your language skills.

In this article, we are going to learn the following Spanish idioms with echar.

Spanish Idioms with Echar

Echar has multiple meanings. According to the Spanish Royal Academy, echar is a transitive verb with more than 40 definitions. Today we are not going to focus on what it means and we will go through 5 common idioms with echar.

Echar balones fuera (to avoid the issue)

Let’s start the idioms with echar with echar balones fuera, which is used when someone is avoiding a difficult conversation. An English equivalent would be to avoid or to dodge the issue.

Estás echando balones fuera y no me estás contestando.

You are avoiding the issue and not answering me.

No eches balones fuera y afronta la situación.

Don’t dodge the issue and confront the situation.

No trato de echar balones fuera. Simplemente no lo sé.

I am not traying to dodge the issue. I just don’t know.

Hoy debes hablar con él. Ya no puedes echar más balones fuera.

You should talk to him today. You cannot dodge the issue any longer.

Echar balones fuera literally means to throw balls outside. This phrase comes from soccer. While playing soccer, players sometimes start throwing the ball outside the field when they want to waste time. Now this idiom is used in difficult conversations to express someone is not talking or answering clearly.

Echar el guante (to capture)

Echar el guante is used when you are catching or capturing someone. This expression usually refers to capturing thieves or people that have committed a crime. As you can see, some idioms with echar do not have an equivalent in English.

Echó el guante a los ladrones cuando intentaban escapar.

He caught the thieves when they were trying to escape.

¿Dónde echaron el guante a estos delincuentes?

Where did they catch these criminals?

He oído que han echado el guante al hijo del dueño.

I heard that the owner’s son has been caught.

Mi padre echó el guante a la persona que le robó el coche.

My father caught the person who stole the car.

Echar leña al fuego (to add fuel to the fire)

Echar leña al fuego is probably one of the most popular idioms with echar. It is used when you are making or saying something that will worsen an already difficult situation. An English equivalent would be to add fuel to the fire.

Estoy enfadada. Por favor no eches más leña al fuego.

I am angry. Please do not add more fuel to the fire.

Roberto echó leña al fuego con su comentario crítico.

Roberto added fuel to the fire with his critical comment.

Es mejor que estés callado y no eches leña al fuego.

You better be quiet and don’t add fuel to the fire.

Esta encuesta solo sirvió para echar más leña al fuego.

This survey only served to add more fuel to the fire.

Echar un capote (to help out)

Let’s continue studying Spanish idioms with echar with an interesting one. The idiom echar un capote comes from the language of bullfighting and it means to help someone in a difficult situation.

Al cantante se le olvidó la letra y su compañero le echó un capote.

The singer forgot the lyrics and his colleague helped him out.

Pablo echó un capote a su jefe cuando no recordó las cifras.

Pablo helped his boss out when he didn’t remember the figures.

No sabía cómo salir de esa discusión, así que le eché un capote.

She didn’t know how to get out of that argument, so I helped her out.

Gracias por echarme un capote en la presentación.

Thanks for helping me out at the presentation.

The word capote refers to the bullfighting cape. In the language of bullfighting, echar un capote means to help the bullfighter when he is in a difficult situation. Usually this is done by a second bullfighter who distracts the animal with another cape to help his colleague. Nowadays this idiom is used in all contexts to express helping someone in a difficult situation.

Echar una mano (to give a hand)

Echar una mano means to give or to lend a hand. There are two similar idioms with echar that mean to help: echar un capote and echar una mano. The difference is that echar una mano does not imply a difficult situation.

Tengo mucho trabajo. ¿Me echas una mano?

I have a lot of work. Would you give me a hand?

Necesito que me eches una mano. ¿Estás libre?

I need you to give me a hand. Are you free?

Échanos una mano y terminaremos rápido.

Give us a hand and we will finish fast.

Si todos le echamos una mano, podrá salir antes.

If we all give him a hand, he will be able to go out earlier.

Exercises

There are many other idioms with echar. Today we have only cover five of the most popular ones. Remember, in our blog, you can also practice idioms with other verbs, such as estar, hacer, poner or tener. Now let’s practice today’s Spanish idioms with echar with the following exercises.

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

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Idioms and Phrases