Spanish: An Essential Grammar

Items that require special attention

The meaning of some words in parts of Latin America has moved away

from current Peninsular usage, in some cases to such an extent that they

can cause misunderstanding and confusion. What follows are merely intro-

ductory words of explanation and caution about a complex but often

encountered issue, especially in speech and informal written language.

Mero(as adjective/adverb)

In Peninsular usage this means ‘mere’, ‘simple’, ‘only’, ‘just’, ‘pure’: la mera

referencia al libro‘the mere reference to the book’, Es un mero niño‘He

is only a child’, una mera casualidad‘a pure coincidence’.

Alternative Latin American uses are widespread and varied, especially in

Mexico and Central America. The most common are:

(a) as an adjective used for emphasis ‘very’, ‘him/her/itself’ (comparable

with mismo):en el mero centro de la ciudad‘in the very centre of the

city’, el mero día de su llegada‘the very day of their arrival’, El mero

profesor me lo dio‘The professor himself gave it to me’.

(b) as an adjective meaning ‘exact’, ‘precise’: a la mera hora de su salida

‘at the precise time of their departure’.

(c) as an adverb meaning ‘just’, ‘right’ (comparable with mismo): ya mero

‘right now’, aquí mero‘just here’, Ahora mero llegamos‘We have just

arrived’.

(d) as an adverb meaning ‘almost’, ‘nearly’: y merito me ahogaba‘and I

was almost drowning’.

Puro(as adjective/adverb)

In Peninsular usage this means ‘pure’, ‘sheer’, ‘simple’: puro algodón‘pure

cotton’, de puros celos ‘out of sheer jealousy’, la pura verdad ‘the

simple/plain truth’.

Alternative Latin American uses are:

(a) as an adjective meaning ‘only’: Hay puras mujeres en el parque‘There

are only women in the park’, La sopa es pura agua‘The soup is only

water’.

(b) as an adjective used for emphasis in the sense of ‘very’, ‘him/her/itself’

(like meroand comparable with mismo): Es del puro Cusco ‘He is

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Differences
between
Latin
American and
Peninsular
Spanish

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