cierto
certain, true
Reviewed by: David WestfallCofounder
A cognate of "certain" used to mean true, sure, or a particular/unspecified thing
Encoding Strategies:
linguistic
certain
sure / true
+
-o
adjective suffix
Cierto means certain and is a direct cognate of the English word.
cierto
true, certain, sure
When something is cierto, it is established as true or certain — you are sure of it.
¿Es cierto que te vas a mudar?Is it true that you're moving?
Lo cierto es que no sé nadaThe truth is I don't know anything
a certain (something) (before a noun)
Placed before a noun, cierto works like the English phrase "a certain" — it points to something specific but unnamed or unspecified.
Cierta noche escuché un ruido extrañoA certain night I heard a strange noise
Lo dijo con cierta ironíaHe said it with a certain irony
A cierto individuo se le vio huyendoA certain individual was seen fleeing
certainly, indeed, that's right (adverb)
Used on its own as a confirmation, like saying "certainly" or "indeed" in English.
— La situación es difícil. — Cierto."The situation is difficult." "Indeed."
Cierto, deberíamos haber llegado antesCertainly, we should have arrived earlier
por cierto
by the way, incidentally,
certainly, indeed (formal)
As a discourse marker, por cierto introduces a new related thought — the same as English "by the way." It can also be used more literally to mean "certainly."
Por cierto, ¿has visto mis llaves?By the way, have you seen my keys?
Eso no es fácil, y por cierto tampoco es justoThat's not easy, and certainly not fair either