el atasco
“el atasco” — traffic jam in Spanish. Noun, level A2, topic — the city and its places. Only about cars. A cork in a bottle is el corcho, a clog in the sink el tapón. In a live sentence: “Llego tarde, hay un atasco enorme” — I'm going to be late, there's a huge traffic jam. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 98 words in the set “the city and its places” in the Spanish course.
In short
| Written in Spanish | el atasco |
| Translation | traffic jam |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- el atascotraffic jam
Why it looks that way
Only about cars. A cork in a bottle is el corcho, a clog in the sink el tapón
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Llego tarde, hay un atasco enormeI'm going to be late, there's a huge traffic jam
Nearby words: the city and its places
Street, square, pharmacy, bank. An address is built out of these, and an address is something you have to both say and understand.
- el restauranterestaurantMasculine. In Spain people more often head to el bar — morning coffee, lunch, and an evening beer all happen there
- la ciudadcityFeminine, like every word in -dad. Stress at the end: syoo-DAHD
- la callestreetThe ll sounds like the y in 'yes': KAH-yeh. In addresses it's abbreviated: c/ Mayor, 12
- la tiendashopBoth a shop and a tent: una tienda de campaña is a camping tent
- el mercadomarketThe covered city market is el mercado; the street one that comes on certain days is el mercadillo
- la farmaciapharmacyLook for the green cross on the sign. The one on night duty is a farmacia de guardia, listed on every door
- el bancobankThe same word also means 'bench'. Both come from a Germanic word for bench: the money changers worked at one
- la estaciónstationBoth a metro stop and a train station: la estación de metro, la estación de tren
- el semáforotraffic lightseh-MAH-foh-roh
- la bicicletabicycleLa bici in speech. To go by bike: ir en bici
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “the city and its places”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “traffic jam” in Spanish?
Only about cars. A cork in a bottle is el corcho, a clog in the sink el tapón
- How do you say “bank” in Spanish?
The same word also means 'bench'. Both come from a Germanic word for bench: the money changers worked at one
- How do you say “street” in Spanish?
The ll sounds like the y in 'yes': KAH-yeh. In addresses it's abbreviated: c/ Mayor, 12
- How do you say “bicycle” in Spanish?
La bici in speech. To go by bike: ir en bici
- How do you say “pharmacy” in Spanish?
Look for the green cross on the sign. The one on night duty is a farmacia de guardia, listed on every door
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “traffic jam” in Spanish?
«el atasco». In a live sentence: “Llego tarde, hay un atasco enorme” — I'm going to be late, there's a huge traffic jam. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2, from the set “the city and its places”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Only about cars. A cork in a bottle is el corcho, a clog in the sink el tapón. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.