Palabra Lexi · common words in Spanish
How to say "afternoon" in Spanish
"Afternoon" in Spanish is tarde, pronounced TAHR-deh (stress on the syllable in capitals). Its dictionary meaning: afternoon, evening. It is a feminine noun (la tarde, plural las tardes).
| Spanish | tarde |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | TAHR-deh |
| Meaning | afternoon, evening |
| Gender | feminine: la tarde |
| Plural | las tardes |
| Frequency | #126 in the Palabra list of common Spanish words |
Pronunciation is spelled out in English, one syllable at a time, with the stressed syllable in capitals. The speaker button uses your browser's built-in Spanish voice. Gender and plural: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.
How to pronounce tarde
Tarde is pronounced TAHR-deh, in IPA /ˈtaɾde/. Tarde has two syllables, TAHR-deh, with the stress on the first. There is no written accent because the word follows the basic rule: words ending in a vowel, -n or -s are stressed on the second-to-last syllable.
Listen: normal and slow speed, in your browser's Spanish voice. IPA: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.
Is tarde masculine or feminine?
Tarde is feminine, so it takes la (the) and una (a): la tarde. The plural is las tardes. The ending does not tell you the gender here, so learn the word together with its article: la tarde.
Example sentences
Es tarde para salir
It's late to go out
Me acuesto muy tarde.
I go to bed very late.
Buenas tardes
good afternoon
"Afternoon" in Spain and Latin America
Tarde is also "late": llegar tarde (to arrive late).
Useful phrases
- Buenas tardes.
Good afternoon / good evening (from lunch until dark).
Regional words and roots: Diccionario de la lengua española (RAE). Spanish varies by region, so treat these as the most common patterns, not strict rules.
How to remember tarde
tarde [TAHR-deh] sounds like the English “tardy”. Picture this:
Tardy afternoon: the siesta ran late and dragged the whole evening with it.
A sound-alike plus a vivid scene is the keyword method, a well-studied way to learn vocabulary. How it works.
Practice tarde
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