español · B2 · verb · 5 minutes
Echar is an expression engine
Stop translating echar alone and learn the small expression it powers.
Understand the choice
Echar has a physical core of putting, throwing, or sending something outward, but its everyday expressions travel far from that image. The noun or construction after it carries most of the meaning, so echar de menos and echarse a reír should be stored as complete chunks.
Core rule: Echar takes its meaning from the noun, preposition, or infinitive pattern that follows it.
Notice it in context
Echo de menos Madrid y siempre le echo un vistazo a las noticias.
I miss Madrid, and I always take a look at the news.
Echar de menos expresses missing; echar un vistazo names a brief look.
Échale un poco de sal a la sopa.
Add a little salt to the soup.
Le points to the soup; un poco de sal is what gets added.
Lo echaron del bar por gritar.
They threw him out of the bar for shouting.
Echar de un lugar means remove or expel someone.
Al ver la foto, se echó a reír.
When she saw the photo, she burst out laughing.
Echarse a + infinitive marks a sudden beginning.
No me eches la culpa de tu error.
Do not blame me for your mistake.
Echar la culpa assigns blame to a person with an indirect pronoun.
La lluvia echó a perder la cosecha.
The rain ruined the harvest.
Echar a perder means spoil or ruin.
What to remember
- Memorize echar de menos and echar un vistazo as units; their objects can then change freely.
- Echarse a + infinitive often presents a sudden action: echarse a reír or echarse a llorar.
- Pronouns attach according to the expression: échale sal, lo echaron, no me eches la culpa.
Common trap: Do not assume tirar can replace echar everywhere. Tirar la sal sounds like throwing the salt away, not adding it to food.