How to Complain in Spanish

Can you think of a situation where you may need to complain in Spanish? I can think of many: at the airport of a Spanish-speaking city, after buying a product from a Spanish-speaking online shop, or after a terrible dinner at a Mexican restaurant—just to name a few. 

Complaining is a basic tool for communicating with others to express what you want and hopefully get it. 

Complaining is a special reaction needed in situations where you want to keep others from abusing you or you need to clarify what it is that you want by expressing what you don’t like. This skill is especially important in Spanish, because when you communicate in a new language you want to ensure that others understand what you want or need. 

For these reasons, in this blog post I introduce you to the world of complaining in Spanish, where we cover the following topics:

• formal complaining
• informal complaining
• common verbs used to complain in Spanish
• complaining phrases, 
• and some slang complaint-related words. 

Ready?

Learning to Complain in Spanish

Similar to English and other languages, there are different ways to complain in Spanish. There’s not a single formula to complain in a sentence in Spanish. You may complain orally, but you can also write a complaint letter, fill a complaint form, or even use complaining slang. 

Let’s start with a situation where you need to issue a complaint, but the situation is very formal and you have to choose your words very carefully.  

Formal Complaining

Usually, in Spanish and English, formal complaining takes place by writing either a complaint letter or filling a complaint form. Both texts are known as queja formal or “formal complaint.” Other common formal complaining translation examples are: 

reclamación oficial 

reclamación formal

denuncia oficial

Use these different terms to refer to a “formal complaint.” Now, let’s see how to write one. 

You write a complaint letter when you want to complain about a product you bought and didn’t meet your expectations or is plainly not as advertised; you may also write complaint letters about public services not up to standard or about an unfair situation at work. 

At this point, I recommend you to read about How to Write a Formal Letter in Spanish. There you’ll find the format and overall process of writing a formal letter. A complaint letter is just a formal letter where the content is focused on complaining about something in a formal way. 

The following is the initial paragraph of a typical complaint letter in Spanish: 

Por medio de la presente, hago de su conocimiento mi inconformidad con la atención recibida en la oficina de gobierno número 3 el pasado día 20 de abril del presente año. 

I hereby inform you of my dissatisfaction with the attention received at government office number 3 on April 20 of this year. 

Notice how you have to go directly to the issue at hand, but doing it in a very formal and convoluted way. Then you can elaborate more about what happened that day, or about why you aren’t happy with the product you bought or the service you received, but is in that first paragraph where you explain the reason for the complaint letter. 

If you want to dig deeper about this topic I recommend you to read this example of a full complaint letter in Spanish.

Informal Complaining

Informal complaining is easier and I guess it’s the same in Spanish and English. You do informal complaining all the time, perhaps with your parents, your partner, or maybe even at a store for a minor situation that doesn’t require a formal complaint letter. 

The main thing to know about informal complaining in Spanish is that it occurs verbally, this means that’s usually a spoken complaint. You can complain about many things, the weather, your Spanish teacher, or because your ice cream isn’t as good as that of your brother. But you can’t do any of this, if you don’t know the Spanish verbs for complaining and their conjugations.

Common Verbs Used to Complain in Spanish 

Let me introduce you to three of the most common verbs used to complain in Spanish.

Quejarse

Although there are other verbs that can also work as a complaining translation, the literal term in Spanish for complaining is quejarse. Notice how this verb doesn’t have one of the traditional -ar, -er, -ir, of most Spanish verbs in infinitive. That’s because it’s a reflexive verb, which means that they express an action done by the subject to the same subject. They are also always accompanied by a reflexive pronoun. 

Present Tense Conjugation

Past Tense Conjugation

Complaining phrases:

Ella se quejó porque no la invitamos a la fiesta. 
She complained because we didn’t invite her to the party. 

Tú te quejas por todo. 
You complain about everything. 

Ayer me quejé con el director de la escuela. 
Yesterday I complained with the school principal. 

Reclamar

Reclamar is a Spanish verb that you can also use as a synonym to quejarse or “to complain.” Its literal translation is “to claim,” but in some contexts it carries a similar meaning to that of quejarse. For example, you can claim that your new phone was broken when you opened it, and in that sense you would be making a complaint. 

Present Tense Conjugation

Past Tense Conjugation

Complaining phrases: 

Carlos reclamó que no le avisaron.
Carlos complained that nobody told him.

Mi esposa y yo reclamamos a la aerolínea por el pésimo servicio que nos dieron. 
My wife and I complained with the airline for the terrible service provided. 

Yo solo reclamo cuando es muy necesario. 
I only complain when it’s needed. 

Protestar

Literally, protestar means “to protest,” but you can see the relationship between this verb and quejarse or “to complain.” When the people take to the streets to protest about a social issue, they’re actually “complaining” about the situation and demanding a solution, which is very much what quejarse means. 

Present Tense Conjugation

Past Tense Conjugation

Complaining phrases:

Miguel y Fernando protestaron contra la nueva ley de seguridad.
Miguel y Fernando complained about the new security law. 

Erika protestó por la comida.  
Erika complained about the food.

Protesté y me despidieron. 
I complained and they fired me. 

Complaining Slang in Spanish

There isn’t a specific slang term that directly translates as quejarse or “to complain,” but there are different slang words used in complaining phrases. Let’s see some of the most common: 

¡Qué pesado es este maestro! 
How boring is this teacher!

In this case, pesado doesn’t mean “heavy” but “boring” or “annoying.”

Ya me tienes hasta la coronilla. 
I’m fed-up with you.

The coronilla is the top of your head, so this slang phrase means to express the idea of being fed-up with someone or something. In Mexico, you can substitute coronilla for madre (literally “mother”), and the meaning is the same, but it’s a bit rude.

I Want to Complain in Spanish!

If you really want to complain in Spanish I recommend you to practice all this newly acquired knowledge. Introduce the three verbs used to complain in Spanish in your conversations and practice the complaining phrases that you’ve just learned. 

Sign up for a free class to polish your conversational skills and get better at expressing yourself to others, complain in Spanish about the things you don’t like, and demand what you need or want for yourself.

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Luis F. Dominguez

Freelance Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

Luis F. Domínguez is a freelance writer and independent journalist interested in travel, languages, art, books, history, philosophy, politics and sports. He has written for Fodor’s, Yahoo!, Sports Illustrated, Telemundo, and Villa Experience, among other brands of print and digital media in Europe and North America.

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