mal
“mal” means “badly” in Spanish. It has 3 different meanings depending on context:
badly
Also: poorly, wrong
📝 In Action
Duermo muy mal por la noche.
A1I sleep very badly at night.
El examen me salió mal.
A2The exam went badly for me.
Perdón, entendí mal.
B1Sorry, I understood wrong.
bad
Also: evil, poor
📝 In Action
Hoy es un mal día para ir a la playa.
A1Today is a bad day to go to the beach.
Fue un malentendido.
B1It was a misunderstanding.
El lobo es el mal personaje del cuento.
A2The wolf is the bad character in the story.
evil
Also: harm, illness
📝 In Action
La película trata sobre la lucha entre el bien y el mal.
B1The movie is about the fight between good and evil.
No quiero hacerte ningún mal.
B2I don't want to do you any harm.
El doctor busca el origen del mal.
C1The doctor is looking for the source of the illness.
🔀 Commonly Confused With
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✏️ Quick Practice
Quick Quiz: mal
Question 1 of 3
Which sentence is correct?
📚 More Resources
👥 Word Family▼
📚 Etymology▼
Comes from the Latin word 'male', which means 'badly' or 'ill'. It's a very old word that has kept a similar meaning for centuries and is related to English words like 'malice' and 'malfunction'.
First recorded: 9th century
Cognates (Related words)
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Frequently Asked Questions
What's the simplest way to remember when to use 'mal' vs. 'malo'?
Think of it this way: 'mal' describes actions (verbs), and 'malo' describes things (nouns). If you can ask 'how?', use 'mal' (e.g., How does he play? He plays badly / Juega mal). If you can ask 'what is it like?', use 'malo' (e.g., What is the dog like? The dog is bad / El perro es malo).
Why does 'malo' sometimes become 'mal'?
It's a shortening rule in Spanish, similar to how 'a' and 'an' work in English. When the adjective 'malo' comes right before a masculine noun (like 'día' or 'chico'), it drops the '-o' and becomes 'mal'. So, 'un malo día' becomes 'un mal día'. It just sounds more natural in Spanish.
Can I use 'mal' to say 'my bad'?
No, that's an English expression that doesn't translate directly. To apologize for a mistake in Spanish, you would say something like 'culpa mía' (my fault), 'perdón' (pardon me), or 'lo siento' (I'm sorry).