How to Say “Shut Up” in Spanish
Using Callarse As a Command
To tell someone to shut up or to be quiet, you need to form a command with the verb callarse(to shut up). How you conjugate callarse depends on whether you are speaking to someone informally or formally and whether you are speaking to one person or a group of people.
Let’s take a closer look at how to form commands with callarse!
Subject | Command | Use |
---|---|---|
To tell a friend, classmate, child, or family member the same age as you or younger to be quiet or shut up. | ||
To tell someone you don't know well or a person older than you to be quiet or shut up. | ||
In Latin America, to tell any group of people to be quiet or shut up. In Spain, to tell a group of people formally to be quiet or shut up. | ||
In Spain, to tell a group of people you are familiar with to be quiet or shut up. |
Note that although telling someone directly to shut up would normally be considered rude in English, the equivalent Spanish commands are not necessarily rude and can be used equally to tell people to be quiet or shut up. So, ¡No te ofendas!(Don't take offense!) The tone and context should make the speaker's intent clear. Check out these examples:
Do you want to learn more about forming commands in Spanish? Click here!
Let's take a look at some examples!
examples |
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Other Ways to Say "Shut Up" in Spanish
Cállate isn't the only way to tell someone to shut up in Spanish. Let's take a look at some alternatives!
The commands given in the following table are in the tú form.
Spanish | English |
---|---|
Shut up!/Shut your mouth! | |
Shush! | |
Keep quiet. | |
Keep silent. | |
Silence!/Quiet! |
Ready to learn some more important Spanish phrases? Check out these articles!