What verbs in Spanish are used to express the concept of "getting ready" or "getting dressed" (for example, before leaving the house to go out to dinner)? I've seen alistarse, arreglarse, prepararse, disponerse, and aprontarse. What is the difference between these words? Are they all used in different regions, or do they actually imply different things?
3 Answers
All these words are used in any Spanish-speaking country but they are not synonyms.
Alistarse
is used to indicate that you are getting ready
but is also used in the context of getting dressed
. You can see RAE's entry for alistar.
Preparar
and Alistar
, for example, have different meanings.
Me voy a preparar para el examen
≠ Me voy a alistar para el examen
. The first sentence indicates that you are going to prepare (by studying) for the exam. The second sentence means that you are getting ready to take the exam.
Aprontarse
means doing something without delay: Me voy a aprontar a terminar el informe.
but I'd prefer Me voy a afanar a terminar el informe.
In conclusion: go get dressed
--> Vístete
, Go get ready
--> Alístate
.
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2Never heard alistarse with that sense. Alistarse in Spain means enrol, like in "alistarse en la marina".– CesarGonJan 21, 2012 at 0:37
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@CesarGon interesting... Look at the RAE entry I linked. At least in Colombia "alístate para que salgamos" is very common.– IcarusJan 21, 2012 at 1:17
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@Icarus: It seems that in Spain we mostly use the first entry for alistar, the one coming from lista.– MikMikJan 24, 2012 at 12:35
Getting ready
is prepararse
(for do something). You can use arreglarse
but has a little difference; when you dress with your best suit (for be handsome/pretty).
getting dressed
is vestirse
.
Alistarse
is used, for example, Alistarse en la marina
is join the Navy
.
Disponer
has differentes meanings, but in this context, is similar to getting ready
(but not used).
Aprontarse
is Prevention, have promptly. As disponer
it's not a tipical word.
This is valid for Spain:
- to get ready: preparar; to get oneself ready: prepararse
- to get dressed: vestir: to get oneself dressed: vestirse
For example:
- Get that report ready by tomorrow, please: Por favor, prepara ese informe para mañana.
- I got dressed as soon as I could: Me vestí tan pronto como pude.
In general, verbs of the form "to get x" applied to oneself are constructed in Spanish reflexively, using the "-se" suffix in infinitive or the corresponding object pronoun when conjugating.