Inklingo

How to Say "night owl" in Spanish

The Spanish word fornight owlis murciélagoA2 level. This is a very common word in everyday Spanish.

English → SpanishA2
nounA2
informal use for someone active at night
A friendly brown bat with large wings hanging upside down from a tree branch.

Examples

El murciélago vuela por la noche para buscar comida.

The bat flies at night to look for food.

Vimos miles de murciélagos saliendo de la cueva al atardecer.

We saw thousands of bats leaving the cave at sunset.

Los murciélagos son fundamentales para controlar las plagas de insectos.

Bats are fundamental for controlling insect pests.

The Five Vowel Word

This is a famous word in Spanish because it is a 'pentavocálica'—it contains all five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) exactly once!

Always Masculine

Even if you are talking about a female bat, the word stays masculine. You say 'el murciélago hembra' to specify it is female.

Missing the Accent

Mistake:murcielago

Correction: murciélago. Always put the accent on the 'e' because the stress is on the third-to-last syllable.

Letter Swapping

Mistake:murciégalo

Correction: murciélago. While you might hear 'murciégalo' in some rural areas, it is considered incorrect in standard Spanish.

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