Spanish Word of the Day: ganas

Today’s word was an excellent suggestion of a reader called Eric. Actually, I actually don’t have ganas to write this short post, as I’m feeling pretty sick today. Oh well…

At first, you may think ganas is the you-form of the verb ganar (to earn/to win). Yes, it can be that, but it’s often used to say you don’t want to something. Take me for example; at times I’m a pretty lazy person, so often say something like: ¡Joder tío! ¡No tengo ganas! – “F*ck it dude, I don’t want to!”. However, that is in the negative sense, you can always make it positive by leaving out no. Example: ¡Tío! ¡Tengo ganas…! – “Dude, I want to…”.

*Note: Often, the word is written and pronounced as gana, especially in dictionaries.

Sentences

Me entraron ganas de vomitar.
I felt sick (I wanted to throw up).

¡Tengo unas ganas de decirle lo que pienso!
I’d really like to tell him what I think!

Tengo ganas de volver a verte.
I’m looking forward to seeing you again.

¡Con qué ganas me comería un helado!
I’d love an ice cream!

Haz lo que te dé la ganas.
Do what you like.

*Sentences taken from “Concise Oxford Spanish Dictionary”.