Embarazada doesn't mean embarrassed. It means pregnant.
The false friend that has announced more surprise pregnancies than any other word in the language.
Embarazada looks like embarrassed, sounds like it, and sits in the same emotional territory, so the brain reaches for it under pressure. It means pregnant. The word for the feeling isn't a single adjective in everyday Latin American Spanish; it's a small phrase built on pena: me da pena (it gives me embarrassment) or simply ¡qué pena!.
Pena does a lot of work in Mexico and Central America. Me da pena pedirlo is "I'm too embarrassed to ask for it", no te dé pena is "don't be shy", and ¡qué pena contigo! is the go-to apology when you've inconvenienced someone. In Spain, pena leans towards sadness or pity, and people say me da vergüenza instead; both are understood everywhere, but pena is what you'll hear on this side of the Atlantic.
If you do need the pregnancy word, it's está embarazada, always with estar, because it's a state. And embarazoso exists, meaning awkward, but it describes situations, not people: fue un momento embarazoso.
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Also worth knowing
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¡Qué pena! No lo vi. | So sorry, I didn't see it. |
| Me da pena preguntar. | I'm embarrassed to ask. |
| No te dé pena, pregunta. | Don't be shy, ask. |
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What does estoy embarazada mean?
It means "I'm pregnant." Embarazada only ever means pregnant, so estoy embarazada is how a woman says she is expecting. It never means embarrassed, however much it looks like it.
How do you say "I'm embarrassed" in Spanish?
Say me da pena (most common in Mexico and Central America), me da vergüenza (understood everywhere), or qué pena for "how embarrassing". Tengo vergüenza works too.
How do you ask "are you pregnant?" in Spanish?
¿Estás embarazada? with a friend, ¿Está embarazada? with someone you address as usted. Many people soften it with ¿Estás esperando un bebé?, and plenty avoid asking unless they are sure.
Is embarazada a false friend?
Yes, one of the most famous. It looks like embarrassed but comes from a word meaning to burden or obstruct. Spanish speakers learning English make the reverse mistake too.
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