What does Paralee mean when she says "vale"?
When I do the video lessons with Paralee where she speaks only in Spanish, often she says "vale" as sort of an "umm..." in between phrases. I didn't know what it was so I put it in the translator, and all it came up with was "voucher" Now I know she's not saying voucher! Is "vale" sort of a regional or colloquial expression for "Umm", or some other type of word? I think I've heard her say "pues" too in similar situations, which I know is "then", but it doesn't seem to fit in when she uses it, making me think it has sort of the same usage.
Gracias por tu ayuda!
11 Answers
Hi Amy,
¡Vale! is definitely used in Spain too, with much the same meanings as already mentioned - OK, agreed, fine etc., etc.
You are correct in picking up that "pues" is often used quite a similar way - they are both often used as filler words, just as we would use "OK then" or "So.."
¿Vale? is often used something like "verdad" at the end of sentence too, effectively turning it into a question. "Pues, nos vemos a las ocho, ¿vale?" "So, we'll see each other at eight; that's alright, yeah?"
Umm ..... Este, Pués
Aside from "Voucher," "Vale" is a verb meaning "Worth." When used to mean "OK," it is normally used at the end of someones question when they say "¿Sale?" Then then response for "OK" can be, "¡Vale!" or "¡Sale vale!" ie, "Vamos al cine hoy en la tarde, ¿sale?" Answer, "¡Vale!" This is how it is used in Mexico....
In Mexico, we would use "bueno" to mean the same thing. "vale" is definitely regional. I hear my friends from Colombia use it, for sure. Not absolutely clear on what other countries it's used in.
Vale= de acuerdo, bién,bueno,si,
Significa asentimiento,afirmación o confirmación.
¡Vale!
Okay
Let's go
Well, then
I agree
It comes from valer. It has a lot of colloquial uses, like it's good, or OK, like Nicole said.
It simply means "o.k.". 
Thank you all for your answers, they are all so good I don't know which one is my favorite!
OMG... Yes, it means "OK", like Nicole said. And boy was I glad I was warned about it before we spent time in Spain! As you can see in SpanishDict's entry for Vale, it is 'peninsular Spanish'. And let me tell you, it is very common! 
I remember walking behind someone on the street who was on a cell-phone. And it seemed like the only word they were saying was 'Vale'; repeatedly. Sometimes once followed by a pause, sometimes twice or three times in quick succession. 
It made me think of expressions in American English such as: "you know...", "like...", etc. that are thrown in at seemingly random moments.
I also hear "pues" a lot (in the Tex-Mex area), which is used as a pause or interjection, in the same way that the gringos use "so".
After I started noticing that many people (including myself) ended sentences with "so . . .", it started to annoy me and I've tried to stop doing it, becuase it sounds like the person has more to say, but then it trails off into silence. So . . .
Great question amy , I was always wondering about the same word 
