Echar and llaves - what is the exact meaning here.

Question

This sentence is in the pretérito grammar quiz. What exactly does the verb echar mean here?

To throw? Did Elisa throw the keys before she left?

Elisa echó la llave antes de salir.

And now I come to "Los niños echaron a nadar en el río"! Echar is a tough one. - katydew, Mar 5, 2012

Antes que echar a nadar tengan que echar sus dientes.. - annierats, Mar 5, 2012

lol... yah, exactamente - katydew, Mar 5, 2012

Answer 1

"Throw the keys..." sería, más bien, "tiró la llave antes de salir".

Echar la llave (= cerrar con llave) = to lock

"She locked before she left"

Es muy común, al salir de casa, preguntarle a la persona que va contigo: "¿Has echado la llave?"

Thanks Cordo. Echar is one of the "make me crazy" verbs. - katydew, Mar 5, 2012

No me extraña, Katy, lo usamos para casi todo :) - Cordobesa, Mar 5, 2012

Ah good Cordobesa, etchar can mean almost anything, I think! - annierats, Mar 5, 2012

Like the English verb "get".... makes me glad English is my 1st language... except when 'echar' comes along. - katydew, Mar 5, 2012

jajaja, tienes razón, Annie, con "echar" y "hacer" lo solucionamos casi todo :) ¡No me recuerdes el "to get", Katy, lo bueno es que cuando no sé qué verbo usar, utilizo "get" y casi siempre acierto, jajaja - Cordobesa, Mar 5, 2012

Echar is the "kitchen sink" verb. As in used for everything. - gringojrf, Mar 5, 2012

Good comment, gring. - annierats, Mar 5, 2012

Answer 2

• This can be really confusing. We use it in different situations. Sometimes it can mean the same thing.

• Echar (botar) = To thorw out. I.E. Lo echaron del trabajo. "He got fired" ¡Échalo a la basura! = Throw it in the garbage!, ¡Échate a dormir! = Go lay down, go to bed! Tirar = To throw I.E. !Tírame las llaves del carro! "Throw me the car keys"

• Tíralo al piso, bótalo al piso, échalo al piso =Throw it to the ground! -1. to throw

• to pour
• to let out
• to dump
• to emit

• to kick out

• ¡Elisa echó llave antes de salir! = Elisa locked the house before she left!

Echar - English explanation --- Echar-Spanish explanation

Nice links to file away, Farallon! Thanks. - katydew, Mar 5, 2012

My pleasure katydew! - farallon7, Mar 5, 2012

Answer 3

Echar is a verb that has many meanings. Unless we know that Elisa was in a bad mood and threw the keys out of the window I think we can safely assume that in this case 'echó' means she took the keys with her.

Sorry about that, I think Cordobesas solution is more logical! - annierats, Mar 5, 2012

I appreciate all the help I can get. Maybe Elisa locked the door, took them with her, then threw them... jejejeje - katydew, Mar 5, 2012

Yes, I actually looked it up in my faithful dictionary and on the internet and none of them suggested the simple locking of doors! - annierats, Mar 5, 2012

Possibly the SD dictionary should add this one. - annierats, Mar 5, 2012

I sent a feedback note about that. - katydew, Mar 5, 2012

En mi diccionario de inglés tampoco encuentro "echar la llave", Annie. Aunque el diccionario de la Real Academia sí lo recoge: http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltObtenerHtml?LEMA=echar&SUPIND=1&CAREXT=10000&NEDIC=No - Cordobesa, Mar 5, 2012

Thanks Cordo. - katydew, Mar 5, 2012

Answer 4

I is probably "echar llaves a la puerta": to lock the door.

Thanks. It seems this is what is meant. - katydew, Mar 5, 2012

Answer 5

i agree with cordoba

Answer 6

Katydew, this is one of the tough verbs that has an enormous amount of uses. We do have it in the dictionary:

echar 10. (accionar) echar la llave/el cerrojo -> to lock/bolt the door

Sorry, I looked and didn't see it. Thanks. - katydew, Mar 5, 2012