Inklingo

How to Say "enough!" in Spanish

English → Spanish

basta

bas-taˈbas.ta

InterjectionA1Informal
Use 'basta' as a direct command to tell someone or something to stop immediately, often out of frustration or annoyance.
A large adult hand gently but firmly stopping a small child's hand from adding a final item to an already overflowing jar of cookies.

Examples

¡Basta! No me grites más.

Enough! Don't shout at me anymore.

Mamá, ¿quieres más sopa? —No, gracias, basta.

Mom, do you want more soup? —No, thanks, that's enough.

¡Basta ya de quejas! Vamos a buscar una solución.

Enough with the complaints already! Let's find a solution.

Using it for 'quite' or 'rather'

Mistake: “Sometimes learners confuse 'basta' with 'bastante'. You can't say 'La película fue basta buena'.”

Correction: Use 'bastante' for 'quite' or 'rather': 'La película fue bastante buena' (The movie was quite good). Use 'basta' to mean 'stop' or 'is enough'.

bastar

bahs-TAHRbasˈtaɾ

VerbA1Informal
Use 'bastar' as an exclamation to express that you have had enough of a situation and want it to end, conveying a strong sense of being fed up.
A hand held up in a firm stop gesture in front of a playful puppy.

Examples

¡Basta! No quiero oír más excusas.

Enough! I don't want to hear any more excuses.

¡Basta ya de tanto ruido!

Stop all that noise already!

Dijo 'basta' y se fue de la reunión.

He said 'enough' and left the meeting.

The 'Basta de' pattern

Use '¡Basta de!' followed by a noun to tell someone to stop a specific behavior, like '¡Basta de tonterías!' (Enough nonsense!).

Using 'Suficiente' as a command

Mistake: “Saying '¡Suficiente!' when you want someone to stop being annoying.”

Correction: While 'suficiente' means enough, '¡Basta!' is much more natural and forceful for telling someone to stop an action.

ya

yah'ʝa

AdverbB1Informal
Use 'ya' in conjunction with 'basta' ('basta ya') to add emphasis and convey a stronger sense of finality, like 'enough already!' or 'that's enough now!'.
A large, red exclamation mark glowing slightly, representing emphasis or urgency.

Examples

¡Basta ya!

Enough already!

¡Cállate ya!

Be quiet now!

¡Ya, ya, entendí!

Okay, okay, I got it!

Confusing 'basta' and 'bastar'

Learners often confuse 'basta' (interjection) and 'bastar' (verb) because they both translate to 'enough!' and are used for similar expressions of frustration. While 'basta' is a direct command to stop, 'bastar' implies being fed up with a situation. In many informal contexts, they are used interchangeably as exclamations.

Related Translations

Learn Spanish with Inklingo

Interactive stories, personalized learning, and more.