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If I threw a snowball (or dodgeball) at someone and it hit them, how would I say "I got you!" in spanish?

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5 Answers

up vote 8 down vote

I am pretty sure that there will be differences depending on the country.

In Mexico you would say "¡Te dí!" specifically to say if you hit someone with a snowball or when playing dodgeball.

Just for the sake of completing the answer based on the other discussions. I believe, and this is my personal opinion since this is not a common phrase for Mexico, that "te pillé" is more accurate when you find someone as when playing hide and seek for which in my country you would say "te encontré".

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3  
+1 for pointing that it could be different on each country. In Cuba (and other caribbean countries) we would say "te cogí", but the same phrase can be somewhat coarse/vulgar/offensive in other latin-american countries. – yms Jan 7 at 19:36
Be careful when using words like hit, grab, throw, etc. as mentioned above, you may receive a hit, grab, or throw yourself. – thunsaker Jan 17 at 16:38
up vote 1 down vote

Like many have said before, "¡Te pillé!" is the most formal translation; but it does sound quite off in many latin american countries (where the verb pillar is not at all used).

Perhaps you could use a more broad: "¡Te atiné!" which is more akin to I hit the mark but manages to be a more neutral translation.

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up vote 4 down vote

As Alexis says, a good translation to that could be "¡Te pillé!", but I don't really picture myself saying that when hitting someone with a snowball. More like when playing "el pillar" (the tag game), "escondite" (hide-and-seek) or the like.

Alternatively, you could say "¡Toma eso!", which roughly means "Take that!", or perhaps "¡Chúpate esa!", which could be translated to "Eat that!" or "Bite the dust!". But these are arguably harsher things to say to a young girl :-)

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I would say ¡Te pillé! if the other person was hidden. If it is more like a battle of snowballs then a good laugh and hide yourself just in case (las venganzas suelen ser terribles) – OnaBai Dec 19 '12 at 11:25
@OnaBai I like "¡Toma eso!" ! Is this one fine to use with a young girl?! "¡Toma eso!" seems much closer to what OP was referring to and I guess can be used in a playing field?! – Mohit Jan 8 at 10:24
Yes, you can use it and I don't think that age or gender might be a problem. What might be a problem is the intention (how you say it) because it might be either challenging (cause the other person go one step further in the game) or might be considered offending (I'm better than you and look what I did to you). I recommend you to show your nicest smile after saying te pillé but don't laugh to loud :-D – OnaBai Jan 8 at 12:48
up vote 1 down vote

[DISCLAIMER : I'm not a native speaker, so even though I've been living for 10 years in Spain, there sure are better translations.]

I would say

¡Te he pillado!

Or

¡Pillado/a!

However, I'm not sure that:

  • it's really kids-friendly
  • it might not have some different meaning in other Spanish-speaking countries
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up vote 0 down vote

Honestly, I think you wouldn’t.

When the person looks back at you, you would probably just smile to let him/her know it’s just a game. Nothing else needed.

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I should clarify... I mean it in a playful, non competitive way. I lobbed a squishy ball at my young daughter during "Spanish time" and I would have liked to have said "I got you!" to her in spanish I'm just not sure if its a direct translation or not – Teresa Dec 19 '12 at 8:05
For that special context I would use no words at all. As Chewie explains, “te pillé” is for a different kind of game, while “toma eso” and “chúpase esa” are not appropiated for the context. – Gallaecio Dec 19 '12 at 11:27

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