How to Say "to embark" in Spanish
The most common Spanish word for “to embark” is “embarcar” — use 'embarcar' when referring to the physical act of boarding a vehicle, such as a ship, plane, or train, to begin a journey..
embarcar
/em-bar-KAR//embaɾˈkaɾ/
Examples
Los pasajeros deben embarcar por la puerta cuatro.
Passengers must board through gate four.
Empezaremos a embarcar el equipaje en diez minutos.
We will start loading the luggage in ten minutes.
El capitán dio la orden de embarcar inmediatamente.
The captain gave the order to board immediately.
The 'C' to 'QU' Spelling Swap
To keep the hard 'K' sound, the 'c' changes to 'qu' whenever the next letter is 'e'. This happens in the 'yo' form of the past tense (embarqué) and all forms of the present wish/command mood (embarque).
Using 'a' with Vehicles
When you say you are boarding a specific vehicle, you usually don't need a preposition directly after the verb, but if you're talking about the action of getting people onto something, you might use 'a' for the people: 'embarcar a los pasajeros'.
Spelling in the Past
Mistake: “Yo embarcé ayer.”
Correction: Yo embarqué ayer. (In Spanish, 'ce' sounds like an 's' or 'th', so we need 'que' to keep the 'K' sound from the original word 'embarcar').
zarpar
/sar-PAR//θarˈpaɾ/
Examples
Zarpamos hacia una nueva aventura empresarial.
We are embarking on a new business adventure.
Metaphorical use
You can use this word to describe starting something big, like a marriage or a business, to give it a poetic feel.
Physical vs. Metaphorical Journeys
Related Translations
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