despertar
to wake up
Reviewed by: David WestfallCofounder
To wake someone or something up
Encoding Strategies:
mnemonic
visual
desperate
driven to act by urgency
+
-ar
verb suffix
Despertar means to wake up and sounds like the English word desperate0, since the alarm makes you jump up desperately.
despertar
to wake up, to wake
When you wake up someone who was sleeping.
Despierta a tu hermano, ya es tardeWake your brother up, it's already late
El ruido de la calle nos despertó a las cincoThe noise from the street woke us at five
to awaken, to bring back (memories)
When something brings a memory back to mind after a long time. The memory was asleep and now it is awake.
Esa canción despierta recuerdos de mi infanciaThat song awakens memories of my childhood
El olor a pan me despertó un recuerdo muy viejoThe smell of bread brought back a very old memory for me
to arouse, to stir up
When a feeling or desire that was not there before starts up in someone. The feeling was asleep and now it is awake.
Su actitud despertó sospechas entre los vecinosHis attitude aroused suspicion among the neighbors
El paseo nos despertó el apetitoThe walk stirred up our appetite
despertarse
to wake up
When you wake up from sleeping. You literally "wake yourself up."
Me desperté antes de que sonara la alarmaI woke up before the alarm went off
Se despertó de golpe en mitad de la nocheShe woke up suddenly in the middle of the night
el despertar
awakening, waking up (the act of waking)
The waking up itself. Adding el turns the verb into a thing, so "to wake up" becomes "the waking up."
El despertar fue difícil después de tan poco sueñoThe waking up was rough after so little sleep
La novela cuenta el despertar de todo un puebloThe novel tells the awakening of a whole town