vs
QUICK ANSWER
"Arrasa" is a form of "arrasar", a transitive verb which is often translated as "to raze to the ground". "Atina" is a form of "atinar", an intransitive verb which is often translated as "to hit the target". Learn more about the difference between "arrasa" and "atina" below.
arrasar(
ah
-
rrah
-
sahr
)A transitive verb is a verb that requires a direct object (e.g., I bought a book.).
a. to raze to the ground
El ambientalista se encadenó a un árbol para impedir que el gobierno arrasara el bosque.The environmentalist chained himself to a tree to prevent the government from razing the forest to the ground.
b. to destroy
Los soldados arrasaron el castillo del enemigo con rocas y catapultas.The soldiers destroyed the enemy's castle with boulders and catapults.
c. to devastate
Los invasores arrasaron numerosas ciudades durante la guerra.The invaders devastated numerous cities during the war.
d. to level
Los trabajadores arrasaron el restaurante para construir un nuevo bloque de pisos.The workers leveled the restaurant to construct a new apartment building.
An intransitive verb is one that does not require a direct object (e.g., The man sneezed.).
2. (colloquial) (to prosper)
A word or phrase that is commonly used in conversational speech (e.g., skinny, grandma).
a. to sweep to victory
El equipo alemán arrasó por el tercer año consecutivo.The German team swept to victory for the third year in a row.
b. to triumph
Todo lo que necesitaban era que el nombre del director apareciera impreso en el material publicitario para que la película arrasara en el mercado.All they needed was the director's name on the promotional materials for the movie to triumph in the market.
arrasarse
A pronominal verb always uses a reflexive pronoun. (e.g., Te ves cansado.).
a. to fill up
Ella sentía que los ojos se le arrasaban de lágrimas a medida que hablaba de la muerte de su tío.She could feel her eyes filling up with tears as she spoke about her uncle's death.
atinar(
ah
-
tee
-
nahr
)An intransitive verb is one that does not require a direct object (e.g., The man sneezed.).
a. to hit the target
El arquero atinó, con lo que demostró su gran puntería.The archer hit the target, demonstrating his impressive aim.
a. to guess
Si atinas en qué estoy pensando, te doy un dólar.If you can guess what I'm thinking about, I'll give you a dollar.
b. to hit upon (colloquial)
A word or phrase that is commonly used in conversational speech (e.g., skinny, grandma).
No sé cómo atiné en las soluciones porque no soy buena para los crucigramas.I don't know how I hit upon the right answers because I'm no good at crosswords.
c. to come up with
Si atinas con el resultado de esta ecuación, tu profesor de matemáticas estará orgulloso.If you come up with the answer to this equation, your math teacher will be proud.
a. to find
Atiné con la casa a pesar de no tener la dirección exacta.I found the house even though I didn't have the exact address.
a. to manage to
No atiné a encestar y mi equipo perdió el partido por un punto.I didn't manage to score a basket, and my team lost the match by one point.
b. to succeed in
Atinaron a convencer el pueblo de que necesitaban un parque solar.They succeeded in convincing the town that they needed a solar farm.
c. no direct translation
This refers to an idiomatic word or phrase for which there is no word-for-word translation.
No atino a hacer nada hoy: ¡tengo muchísimo sueño!I can't seem to do anything today. I'm really sleepy!
Juan estaba tan borracho que no atinaba a meter la llave en la cerradura.Juan was so drunk he couldn't put the key in the keyhole.
