What do you think when you see the word complimento? You think it means “compliment”, right, right? WRONG! Complimento doesn’t exist, it’s nothing more than a word made up by English speakers that don’t fully control the Spanish language and therefore make up words that look like English.
So, what is the right word to say “compliment”? It’s cumplido (didn’t expect that, did you?). However, cumplido can have more meanings. For example, it can mean “duty”, “polite” or “accomplished”.
However, only for the meaning of “compliment” it acts as a noun (masculine), the rest are adjectives (and therefore it can appear in the forms cumplido and cumplida).
Sentences
¡Gracias por el cumplido!
Thank you for the compliment!
La invitó por cumplido.
He invited her because he felt he had to.
Es precioso, de verdad, no es un cumplido.
It’s beautiful, really, I’m not just being polite.
¡Con lo cumplido que es!
He’s always so polite
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I just stumbled across your website from a different blog. I’m Mexican and have always talked Spanish, but even I use complimento. Haha. I know the word cumplido, but I never use it.
I guess that Mexican Spanish is greatly influenced by English from the U.S. But it’s incorrect (no offense), actually let it sound like Spanlish at times.
Otra forma más utilizada para las frases que pones como ejemplo es:
La invitó por cumplido –> La invito por cumplir.
¡Con lo cumplido que es! –> ¡Con lo educado que eres!
Saludos.
Interesting.. thank you for sharing.
However, “complimento” does exist: it’s the Italian word for “compliment”.