escuchar a escondidas
“escuchar a escondidas” — to eavesdrop in Spanish. Verb, level B1, topic — people and family. A escondidas is on the sly, from esconder, to hide. Oír sin querer is to overhear by accident. In a live sentence: “Escuchó a escondidas toda la conversación” — He eavesdropped on the whole conversation. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 134 words in the set “people and family” in the Spanish course.
In short
| Written in Spanish | escuchar a escondidas |
| Translation | to eavesdrop |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | B1 |
- escuchar a escondidasto eavesdrop
Why it looks that way
A escondidas is on the sly, from esconder, to hide. Oír sin querer is to overhear by accident
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.
- Escuchó a escondidas toda la conversaciónHe eavesdropped on the whole conversation
Nearby words: people and family
Mum, friend, child, neighbour. The first thing people ask you about, and the first thing you tell about yourself.
- el amigofriendA heavier word than English friend: an acquaintance is un conocido, a colleague un colega
- la familiafamilyA false friend: this is family, not surname — the surname is el apellido. Stress on the i: fah-MEE-lyah
- la madremotherThe neutral word, for documents and for talking about someone else. The affectionate mom is mamá, stress at the end
- el padrefatherThe affectionate one is papá, stress at the end. The accent mark decides everything: papá is dad, papa is a potato and the Pope
- el hijochildA child as somebody's son or daughter. In the plural los hijos means children in general; a kid regardless of parents is el niño
- la personapersonAlways feminine, even about a man: una persona alta. People in general are la gente, and the verb with it stays singular
- el hombremanA man, and mankind in the broad sense. In conversation hombre! is just listen! or come on!
- la mujerwomanThe j is a harsh throaty h: moo-HER
- el chicoyoung manA young man, a guy. The bookish one is el joven; Latin America prefers el muchacho. As an adjective chico means small
- la chicayoung womanThe pair of el chico. One word covers girl and young woman; age comes from context, not the word
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “people and family”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to eavesdrop” in Spanish?
A escondidas is on the sly, from esconder, to hide. Oír sin querer is to overhear by accident
- How do you say “man” in Spanish?
A man, and mankind in the broad sense. In conversation hombre! is just listen! or come on!
- How do you say “mother” in Spanish?
The neutral word, for documents and for talking about someone else. The affectionate mom is mamá, stress at the end
- How do you say “young woman” in Spanish?
The pair of el chico. One word covers girl and young woman; age comes from context, not the word
- How do you say “person” in Spanish?
Always feminine, even about a man: una persona alta. People in general are la gente, and the verb with it stays singular
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 “to eavesdrop” in Spanish?
«escuchar a escondidas». In a live sentence: “Escuchó a escondidas toda la conversación” — He eavesdropped on the whole conversation. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level B1, from the set “people and family”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
A escondidas is on the sly, from esconder, to hide. Oír sin querer is to overhear by accident. 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.