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mal

/ˈmal/, [ˈmal]

bad, not good, wrong

Adjective mal m (apocopate, standard form malo)

  1. (before the noun) Apocopic form of malo bad; evil
  2. amiss, awry, off, wrong
    Me di cuenta de que algo estaba mal.
    I realized something was amiss.

Adverb mal (comparative peor)

  1. badly, poorly, ill
    No hables mal de los muertos.
    Don't speak ill of the dead.
    Qué mal.
    Too bad. / That's too bad.
  2. awry, amiss, wrong, wrongly
    Tu plan maestro salió mal bastante rápido
    Your master plan went awry pretty quickly.
  3. hard (functions as an adverb in Spanish but translates as an adjective in English)
    Estoy pasándolo mal con todo ahora mismo.
    I'm just having a hard time with everything right now.

Noun mal m (plural males)

  1. evil, harm; a bad thing or situation
    de mal en peor
    from bad to worse
  2. disease, illness, ailment
    ... le curaremos, si es que su mal tiene cura...
    ... we shall cure him, if his ailment has a cure...
  3. worse (substantive)
    para bien o para mal
    for better or for worse

Source: Wiktionary available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

Examples

  • El partido se pospuso a causa del mal tiempo.

    The game was postponed because of the bad weather.

    Source

  • Estoy siempre de mal humor.

    I'm always moody.

    Source

  • Quiero encontrar otra forma de salir de esta situación, aunque ésta tampoco está tan mal.

    I want to find another way out of the situation, although this one isn't that bad either.

    Source

  • Te juzgué mal.

    I have misjudged you.

    Source

  • El mal clima me impidió el ir a pescar.

    The bad weather prevented me from going fishing.

    Source

  • Ese niño aprendió a distinguir el bien del mal.

    That child learned to tell good from bad.

    Source

  • Me gusta estar triste. Sé que la mayoría de las personas intentan evitar cualquier tipo de sentimiento de tristeza. Pero yo pienso que eso está mal.

    I like to feel sad. I know that most people try to avoid any kind of sad feeling. But I think that is wrong.

    Source

  • Vamos, hijo. ¡Deja de pelear contra las fuerzas del mal durante diez minutos y ven a cenar!

    Come on, son. Quit battling the forces of evil for ten minutes and come to dinner!

    Source

  • A pesar del dolor puso a mal tiempo buena cara.

    Despite the pain, he put on a brave face.

    Source

  • Lamento haberte entendido mal.

    I'm sorry I misunderstood you.

    Source

See more examples

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