Skip to content
SlangWordsOnline

vale

BAH-lehinterjectionColloquial

A Peninsular Spanish slang term. Browse all Spanish slang.

What it means

  1. Okay; alright; fine. The single most frequent word in Spanish conversation after the basics, and essentially untranslatable in its full range.

  2. As a question, ¿vale?, appended to check agreement: 'okay?'

Examples with translations

  • —Nos vemos a las ocho. —Vale.

    'See you at eight.' 'Okay.'

  • Lo dejamos aquí, ¿vale?

    Let's leave it there, alright?

  • Vale, vale, ya voy.

    Alright, alright, I'm coming.

    Note: Doubled, it signals mild impatience.

Where it comes from

From valer, 'to be worth' — 'it's worth it', hence 'it'll do'. Almost exclusively peninsular: Latin America says bueno, dale or listo, and vale is one of the quickest ways to be identified as speaking Spanish from Spain.

Other forms

Similar terms:
de acuerdo, venga