I love learning down to earth Spanish and I don’t think you can get any more down to earth than this suffix. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories about how “I’ll do it tomorrow” in Spain can mean anywhere up to 6 months, but here’s a few more ways the Spanish can be imprecise…

Let’s start with the grammatically correct way of using -ish, just in case you find yourself in a more formal situation “más bien…” can be used to convey an approximation.

For example: Es más bien alto – It is tallish.

But who wants to be formal? For everyday situations use “tirando a…“, literally meaning “close to…” or “more or less…”.

For example: Es tirando a alto – It is tallish.

Blueish…

When it comes to colours the Spanish have a set of completely different words. But don’t worry, they aren’t that hard to learn!

Blanco (white) – blanquecino/blancuzco

Rojo (red) – rojizo

Azul (blue) – azuláceo/azulino

Amarillo (yellow) – amarillento

Negro (black) – negruzco

Verde (green) – verdusco/verdoso

Gris (grey) – grisáceo

Rosa (pink) – rosáceo

Púrpura (purple) – purpúreo

Marrón (brown) – marronáceo

Naranja (orange) – anaranjado

Violeta (violet) – violáceo

Pardo (dark brown) – parduzco

So have fun and impress people with you imprecision!

Hasta luego.