How to Say "hell-bent" in Spanish
The Spanish word for “hell-bent” is “empeñado” — B1 level. This is a very common word in everyday Spanish.
Examples
Juan está empeñado en aprender japonés este año.
Juan is determined to learn Japanese this year.
Sigue empeñada en que yo tengo la culpa, pero no es cierto.
She is still insistent that I am to blame, but it's not true.
El gobierno está empeñado en bajar los impuestos.
The government is hell-bent on lowering taxes.
The 'En' Rule
When you want to say WHAT someone is determined to do, you must use the word 'en' after empeñado, followed by a verb in its base form (the infinitive).
Matching the Person
Since this word describes a person, you must change the ending to -a if you are talking about a woman (empeñada) or to -os/-as for groups.
Using 'a' instead of 'en'
Mistake: “Estoy empeñado a ganar.”
Correction: Estoy empeñado en ganar. (In Spanish, we are determined 'in' something, not 'to' it).
Related Translations
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