When discussing an idea, there are some Spanish expressions that are used to strengthen our position by reinforcing a particular part of the argument. In other words, they are used to emphasize in Spanish. In this article, we are going to show you the three main phrases used for this purpose.
How to Emphasize in Spanish
If you want to emphasize in Spanish, you can use any of the following three connectors. By using them, you can make a strong statement that leaves no room for doubt or disagreement. Let’s look at these particularly useful phrases to practice how to emphasize in Spanish.
En realidad (actually)
One of them is
Marisa y Luis dijeron que se habían casado en Nueva York; pero, en realidad, solo estaban viviendo juntos.
Marisa and Luis said they got married in New York, but actually they were just living together.
Rafael dice que ama a sus tres hijos por igual. Pero, en realidad, tiene preferencia por su hija Marta.
Rafael says that he loves his three children equally. But actually he prefers his daughter Marta.
Alicia siempre dice que es argentina porque vivió en Buenos Aires la mayor parte de su vida; pero, en realidad, nació en Chile.
Alicia always says that she’s Argentinian, because she lived in Buenos Aires most of her life; but she was actually born in Chile.
De hecho (in fact)
Another expression is
Raquel es demasiado joven para viajar sola a otro país. De hecho, tiene solo diecisiete años.
Raquel is too young to travel abroad by herself. In fact, she’s only 17 years old.
Preferí comprar un pequeño piso antes que un coche. De hecho, y aunque no lo creas, me salió más barato.
I preferred to buy a small apartment before buying a car. In fact, you might not believe it, but it was cheaper.
Para tomar una buena fotografía, hay que tener en cuenta el encuadre. Y saber capturar el momento. De hecho, lo menos importante es la calidad de la cámara.
In order to take a good picture, you need to take into account the setting. And you have to know how to capture the moment. In fact, the least important thing is the quality of the camera.
En el fondo (deep down)
Finally, examine the expression
Sergio parece conocer el tema; pero, en el fondo, no sabe de lo que habla.
Sergio seems to know about the topic, but deep down, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Todos piensan que me encanta mi trabajo. Pero, en el fondo, yo sé que quiero cambiarlo.
Everybody thinks I love my job. But deep down, I know I want to change it.
Creo que esta cámara es un poco vieja. Tiene muchos problemas; pero, en el fondo, no quiero tirarla porque es un regalo de mi abuela.
I think this camera is a bit old. It has many problems, but deep down I don’t want to throw it away because it’s a present from my grandmother.
Exercises
You can learn and practice more linkers or connectors in our blog. Now let’s do some exercises covering these three phrases used to emphasize in Spanish.
Seems like “en verdad” is most emphatic–He says he is rich, but actually he’s poor. “Dice que es rico, en verdad es pobre.” Basically, I’m calling him a liar, right?
They are two different linkers:
1. “En verdad” is emphatic and it is the equivalent of “really, truly” or also “to be honest”. It means like “es verdad que…” (it is true that…). So basically, as you say, you are calling him a liar.
2. “En realidad” looks similar, but this phrase shows a contrast. In English you would say “actually, in fact”.
I haven’t thought about it before, but maybe they get confused with each other when trying to translate them literally. “En realidad” even though is similar to “really”, the meaning is not “really”, but “actually”.