Entonces Spanish: Use 5 Alternatives in Real Spanish Sentences

Y entonces que me toma de la mano y entonces que me le quedo viendo. ¡Y entonces que pasa mi ex! (And so he grabs my hand, and then I stare at him. And then my ex passes by!)

Entonces Spanish: Don’t ruin a great story by saying entonces (then) too much! Ponle variedad a tu storytelling en español (Give variety to your storytelling in Spanish) with the 5 alternatives to entonces (then) that you will learn in this lesson.

I’m Paulísima from Spring Spanish, and this is option number 1:

1. Haz de cuenta que (Pretend that)

Haz de cuenta que (Pretend that) ¡Esta es una frase muy mexicana! (This is a very Mexican phrase!)

¡Me encanta, la verdad! (I love it, really!)

We use it to introduce a fact or to simply connect phrases. Sure, it’s a “muletilla” (a filler word) and in “español correctísimo” (“proper Spanish”) should be avoided, but this is the way people speak, you will hear it a lot!

Entonces, como pasó mi ex, haz de cuenta que me paralicé.
(And so because my ex passed by, so I paralized.

¡No manches! ¿Y cómo reaccionó este chico?
(No way! And how did this guy react?)

Haz de cuenta que se quedó serio y que me dice: “¿Todo bien?”
(So, he stayed serious, and then he told me: “All good?”)

Do stay until the end to learn one that is going to make you sound super Mexican.

2. Supón que (Suppose that)

Supón que o supónte que. (Suppose that.)

This phrase, just like the previous one, is a filler word. It’s like saying “let’s say” or “suppose”.

Amiga, ¿cómo se hace una lista de distribución en Whatsapp?
(Friend, how do you make a WhatsApp broadcast list?)

¡Fácil! ¿Ves los tres puntitos que aparecen en la pantalla hasta arriba?
(Easy! See the 3 little dots that appear on the screen all the way to the top?)

Ajá.
(Yes.)

Supón que le aprietas ahí y te va a dar opciones.
(Suppose you click there and it will give you options.)

Amiga, ¿cómo es el show de Coco Bongo?
(Girlfriend, how is the show at Coco Bongo?)

¡Ay, está padrísimo! Pues, supón que tocan temas icónicos. Obviamente, como el nombre “coco bongo” viene de la película de La Máscara, supón que sale el güey de la Máscara ¡volando por los aires y así!
(Oh, it’s so good! So, suppose that they play iconic themes. Obviously, since the name comes from the movie The Mask, suppose that the guy in the Mask flies through the air!)

¿Por qué quiero que te suscribas ahora mismo al canal?
(Why do I want you to subscribe to the channel right now?)

Supón que, ¡quiero que sigamos haciendo crecer esta comunidad de personas que amamos el español!
(Suppose, I want this community of people who love Spanish to keep growing!)

3. Y que agarro y que (And then Lit.: And then I grab and I)

And then I grab and I?

Queridos amigos, esta frase no tiene sentido cuando la traducimos literalmente. (Dear friends, this sentence does not make sense when translated literally.)

That’s why we don’t translate word by word. It’ll slow you down.

Lo que debes hacer en vez de eso es aprender por chunks. (What you have to do instead is learn by chunks.) Phrases or word combinations used invariably by the native speakers of a language.

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Y que agarro y que (then) makes no sense, we just use it as “then” when we’re going to introduce a new event or an action we took.

Oye, ¿y qué le dijiste tú cuando te preguntó si todo bien?
(​​Hey, and what did you tell him when he asked you if everything was ok?)

No pues, que agarro y que le digo: Sí todo bien, pero, ¿te puedo decir algo?
(No well, then I tell him:  Yes, everything is fine, but can I tell you something?)

Y que agarra y me dice: Sí, claro, siempre.
(And then he says to me: Yes, of course, always.)

Y que agarro y que le digo: No, es que acaba de pasar mi ex.
(And then I said to him: No, it’s just that my ex just passed by.)

4. Y luego que (And then)

Y luego que. (And then.)

We use it to introduce a new event or something we think might surprise the other person. You don’t have to use this word. Neither the other ones in this list, actually, but doing it is going to make you sound more natural.

¡No inventes! ¡No puedo creerlo!
(No way! I can’t believe it!)

Y luego que me dice: ¿Pero tú estás bien, hermosa?
(And then he tells me: But are you ok, beautiful?)

Y luego, ¿tú qué le dijiste?
(And then, what did you say to him?)

5. Y bueno que / Y ya que (And well then/ And then)

Y bueno / ya que (And well then / and then)

This one is more or less like saying “and well then”. It has more of a conclusive tone than the previous ones, but attention: It doesn’t necessarily mean that the chisme (gossip) is over. Chisme, you know, the Mexican art of gossiping, find more about how to do it properly in this video.

Let’s continue with the previous gossip.

Y bueno, que le digo: Gracias por preguntar, sí estoy bien. Es el único ex con quien no me llevo, pero tampoco terminamos mal.
(And well I tell him: Thank you for asking, yes, I’m ok, he’s the only ex I don’t talk to, but we didn’t end up on bad terms either.)

¿De veras le contaste eso?
(Did you actually tell him that?)

Sí, amiga, y bueno y ya que me dice: Gracias por contarme. Te agradezco la confianza.
(Yes, girlfriend, and then he told me: Thank you for telling me. I appreciate you trusting me.)

Un caballero.
(A gentleman.)

Sí, totalmente, y ya que nos despedimos, pero antes quedamos de ir al cine el viernes.
(Yes, totally and well, then we said goodbye, and we agreed upon going to the movies on Friday.)

6. Summary for entonces Spanish

And well, now let’s make a summary!

Let’s use them all:

Y entonces, que me toma de la mano y que agarro y me le quedo viendo. ¡Y supón que pasa mi ex! Y luego que él se quedó super serio y que agarra y me pregunta si todo bien. Y bueno, ya que le respondo y le explico la situación, y haz de cuenta que el chavo, súper súper un caballero. Lo tomó súper bien.
(And then, he takes me by the hand, and so I stare at him. And suppose my ex walks by! And then he got super serious, and so he asked me if everything was okay. And well, I answer him and explain the situation, and suppose he’s a super super gentleman. He took it very well.)

As you have noticed, entonces (then) is a filler word that Spanish speakers love to use. But what about all the other filler words that native speakers say all the time?

Learn about them here, so you can recognize them when speaking Spanish and if you want to spice up your own Spanish a bit.