What does ‘venga’ mean in Spain?
In Spain, venga is an everyday interjection meaning “come on”, “go on” or “okay then”: people use it to encourage, hurry, agree or wrap up a conversation (Venga, hasta luego). It comes from the verb venir, “to come”, but in this use nobody is asking you to come anywhere.
What venga means
Come on! (encouraging or hurrying) Informal
¡Venga, que llegamos tarde! (“Come on, we’re going to be late!”) or ¡Venga, que tú puedes! (“Come on, you can do it!”).
Okay, sure (agreeing) Informal
As a reply to a suggestion, often paired with vale: —¿Pedimos una pizza? —¡Venga, vale!
Right then (closing) Informal
Very common to wind up a chat or a phone call: Venga, nos vemos mañana. It signals, in a friendly way, that the conversation is ending.
¡Venga ya! — come off it! Informal
With ya, it expresses disbelief or impatience: ¿Que te ha tocado la lotería? ¡Venga ya!
The verb: venga usted Neutral
Venga is also the usted command and a subjunctive form of venir, used everywhere: Venga usted mañana (“Come tomorrow”), Espero que venga (“I hope he comes”).
Where and when you will hear it
Venga is heard constantly across Spain: among friends, in families, at work and on the phone. It is informal but friendly; with someone you address as usted, de acuerdo or muy bien is a safer way to agree.
As an interjection, venga is characteristic of Spain. In Argentina, Uruguay and other countries, dale often plays a similar role.
Examples from everyday Spain Spanish
- ¡Venga, date prisa, que perdemos el tren!Come on, hurry up, we’re going to miss the train!
- —¿Te apetece una pizza esta noche? —¡Venga, vale!“Do you fancy a pizza tonight?” “Sure, why not!”
- Venga, te llamo luego.Okay then, I’ll call you later.
- ¿Que te ha tocado la lotería? ¡Venga ya!You won the lottery? Come off it!
- ¡Venga, que tú puedes!Come on, you can do it!
How to say it
BEN-gah, stress on the first syllable. The v is a b sound and the g is hard, as in “go”. Said quickly and brightly it encourages; drawn out (veeenga) it can sound impatient or coaxing.