What does DALE mean in Argentinian Spanish?

How can you say ‘okay‘, ‘good idea‘, ‘I agree to do that‘ and ‘come on‘ with one word in AR Spanish? Easy, with the word DALE. It’s so ubiquitous that we’ve lost sight of all the different uses we put it to.

It’s actually one of the first words we learn to use in class.

In this post I’ll show you with several examples how to incorporate it to your Argentinian Spanish toolbox. Ready? In the following short dialogues you’ll see DALE in action.

DALE like ‘okay’

-Voy a averiguar y después te llamo.
-Dale, gracias.

-Hola Mati, ¿podés hablar?
-Estoy en clase. Te llamo a la noche, ¿dale?
-Dale, dale. No hay apuro.

DALE like ‘good idea’

-Che, voy a pedir una pizza.
-Dale. Yo quiero una porción de fainá también.

DALE like ‘come on’

-Dale che, salgamos que se hace tarde.

DALE like ‘I agree to do that’

-Vos comprá la bebida y nosotros compramos la comida, ¿te parece?
-Dale, perfecto. Quedamos así.

Just one thing: don’t use it to say ‘I understand’, in the way you can use ‘okay’. In those cases, stick to ‘Entiendo’.

Over the last few years, DE UNA has been taking up more and more space. So now, a prototypical young Argentinian will alternatively answer:

-Nos vemos mañana, ¿dale?
-De una.

or combine both:

-Nos vemos mañana, ¿dale?
-Dale, de una.

In Spain, the word of choice is VALE. That makes me think the change of the V for a D was another of the many consequences of the overseas voyage of Spanish through the Atlantic.

Since you are here, I’m guessing you want to learn Argentine Spanish. If that’s the case, I’m your guy! Follow THIS LINK to visit the lessons menu.

Happy Spanish learning,

You might also want to read these articles:

• Cancherear
  Dive into the nuances of the word ‘canchero’ and how ‘cancherear’ can make or break a moment.
• Hacer una vaquita
  I’m not going to argue how ridiculous this phrase may sound at first. Let me just tell you what it means in Argentina.
• Pizza in Argentina
  An appreciation post dedicated to pizza—specifically, Argentine-style pizza.
• Put your pen to ink
  Do you need some motivation and ideas to do some writing practice in Spanish? Click right here!
• The Paradox of Choice
  Today, I want to introduce the concept of paradox of choice, and show you how it’s detrimental to your progress.
• Argentinian Spanish Input (part 1)
  In this post, I included podcasts you can try to leverage your learning with natural input.