No sooner said than done: we learn “hecho” in Spanish / 5 minutes of Spanish + Podcast (English version)

 Hello, how are you? Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, depending on where you are or what time you're listening to us.

Thank you for being here for the 256th edition of this podcast to practice Spanish.

In these five minutes of Spanish, halfway through the week, we're going to play with a very common and very interesting word: “hecho,” with an “h.”

We have to see the difference between: “echo esto a la basura” (I throw this in the trash) y “hecho en México” (Made in Mexico).

Remember: echo without an h comes from the verb echar, and hecho with an h is the past participle of hacer or a noun.

Por ejemplo:

El pastel está hecho con harina y mantequilla.
El The cake is made with flour and butter.
El pastel está hecho con amor.

The cake is made with love.

Today we are not going to analyze the entire verb “to do,” because it has many uses. We are going to focus only on “done.”

“Done” can mean an event, something that happened.

En inglés es simple: it’s a fact.

Es un hecho que cuando llueve en Los Cabos, el tráfico cambia.

It is a fact that when it rains in Los Cabos, traffic changes.

We also talk about facts when we refer to important actions.

What were the most relevant facts of last year?

In everyday life, we use “fact” all the time:

Made in Mexico, handmade, made by artisans.

Deal done, when we reach an agreement. Deal.

Dalo por hecho o délo por hecho: take it for granted, algo seguro que va a pasar.

Hechos, no palabras. Acts, not words.
Los hechos hablan por sí solos.The facts speak for themselves.

Cuando algo ya pasó y no se puede cambiar, decimos: lo hecho, hecho está.

What's done is done.

Y si toca enfrentarlo con actitud: a lo hecho, pecho.

Pecho- chest “What s done- brest” in the sense of: "Face the facts" 

De hecho, es un conector muy usado. Significa en realidad, efectivamente.
In fact.

También describe estados:
Está hecho un desastre. He’s a mess.
Entró hecho una fiera. She came in furious.

Other phrases:

¿Qué has hecho?

What have you done?
¿Ya has hecho la tarea?

Have you done your homework yet?

Hecho- done
¿Hay café? Sí, hay hecho. Is there any coffee? Yes, there is.

Now let's listen to “hecho” in an everyday situation.

One person arrives home late. The other is waiting, clearly annoyed.

“What happened? I didn't do anything.”

“Nothing? It's ten o'clock, I was waiting for you for dinner.”

“Actually, I was working all day.”

“I'm basing this on the facts: you're late, you're a mess, and you smell like beer.”

“Well... what's done is done.”

“Perfect. You made your bed, now lie in it. It's your turn to wash the dishes.”

“Okay, you got it.”

“Hmm... it's easier said than done.”

And with that saying, we're done:

Del dicho al hecho hay mucho trecho. It's easier said than done.

In other words, sometimes there is a big gap between what we say and what we actually do.

Like us, when we say “five minutes of Spanish”... and sometimes we go on a little longer. But only a little longer.

Thank you for listening to the end.

That's all for today's Spanish lesson. Spanish- done!!!

Nos vemos  o nos escuchamos pronto  See you or listen you soo!!!

Chau, chau