Who doesn’t love a good surprise? Especially when it’s a pleasant one. When we’re given unexpected news, our facial expressions change: our eyebrows lift, our eyes open wider, and, above all, we often struggle to find the right words.
Precisely because it’s so hard to think of what to say in these moments, in this post we bring you 10 of Spaniards’ favorite ways to express surprise. In Spanish, we have several tools, including interjections and some particular expressions.
- ¡Hala!
This is a very commonly used interjection to show surprise, although it’s also used to express encouragement.
They gave me two plane tickets to Madrid for my birthday.
Wow! Congratulations! Enjoy it so much! Madrid is a fantastic city.
- ¿Hola?
Yes, besides being a greeting, we can also use “hola” to express surprise. We use it with question marks because we can’t believe what we’re being told or what’s happening. It’s often accompanied by “are you serious?”, “what?”, “are you kidding?” (colloquial and informal), or “is this a joke?”. For example:
I just got promoted at work.
What? Seriously? Congratulations!
- ¡Dios mío!
We use this exclamatory expression in moments of great astonishment, whether the news is good or bad—it’s used in both situations. For example:
I’m pregnant!
Oh my God! I don’t know what to say, congratulations!
- ¡Madre mía!
This is one of the most used expressions to show surprise, although it can also express other emotions depending on the tone. For example:
We’ve just been given another exam for this Thursday.
Oh my goodness! Another one? It can’t be!
- ¡Anda!
We use this interjection to express admiration or surprise, as well as to encourage someone to do something. For example:
There are no chocolate donuts left at the bakery.
No way! And I was really craving them today.
- ¡Ay, madre!
We use this expression when we want to express astonishment or surprise about what’s happening. For example:
Grandparents are getting divorced after 40 years of marriage.
Oh dear! I can’t believe it, why?
- ¡Qué dices!
We use this expression to show surprise and disbelief at what someone is telling us or what’s happening at the moment. For example:
My dog just had puppies!
No way! But you never told me she was pregnant.
- ¿Pero qué me cuentas? / ¿Pero qué me estás contando?
These two expressions are used very similarly to the previous one. We ask one of these questions—sometimes even both at once—when we want to express total shock or surprise at what we’ve just been told. When we ask this, the other person usually repeats what they just said. Sometimes, the surprise is so great that we might ask more than twice. For example:
I’m getting married next month!
What are you telling me?
My boyfriend asked me to marry him, and well, I want to get married as soon as possible.
Are you serious?
You heard me, I’m getting married next month!
Congratulations! I’m so happy for you!
- ¡Caramba!
This interjection is mainly used to express surprise or annoyance, but it can also be used in a context of surprise. It’s worth noting that nowadays, young people or teenagers don’t use it as much as they did ten or twenty years ago. For example:
It just started raining out of nowhere!
Wow! And I just hung the laundry out to dry!
- ¡Vaya!
This is another interjection we use to express surprise or annoyance. For example:
The trip to the amusement park was cancelled!
Oh no! And I was so looking forward to going.
After learning about Spaniards’ ten favorite ways to express surprise, which one have you used the most since you started studying Spanish? Did you know them all? If so, wow!
Next time you see your friends, you could ask them which one they use most often—maybe they’ll give you a new one that’s not on this list, so you’ll have one more to add to your vocabulary 😊
Now, if you want to check how your general Spanish knowledge is going, we suggest you take a Spanish level test. We hope you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results!
