There is a group of words which we use almost interchangeably in our daily accounts of the day. Technically speaking, these would be referred to as ‘unnamed subjects’: people you don’t know by their name.

I don’t have nearly as much option when it comes to English translations for these words. I think of them under guy, lad, dude or bloke, but I’d love to hear what other options are out there.

All of these words have a masculine and a femenine form, but you’ll rarely hear ‘chabona’.

It’s very difficult to explain why we’d choose one or other, most people leaning towards one or the other based off a personal preference. The only exception is pibe, because it’s used to refer to people of younger age, say below 25.

Alternatively, people could address you using words like:

• maestro
• jefe
• pa
• capo
• señor

What’s interesting about all the words above is that they reflect a respectful, more hierarchical relationship.

Hope you liked learning something new today,

Happy Spanish learning,

You might also want to read these articles:

• Know thyself
  Take this questionnaire to know yourself better as a learner and leverage your learning.
• Redefining what a lesson is
  It’s time for a full disclaimer. What does learning a language look like in 2025?
• ATR | A Todo Ritmo
  Learn what ATR means and when/how it’s used in Argentina.
• Self-talk
  In this article, we talk about the convenience of self-talk in our Spanish practices.
• Little wonders
  This post will give you some short phrases to react naturally in conversations.
• Expressions with DE
  Let’s dive in into a few everyday expressions with DE, shall we?