Slow or Fast in Spanish: How to Talk About Speed

Whether you’re a speed racer or a slowpoke, it’s useful to be able to discuss people and things that are slow and fast in Spanish.

Faster than the speed of lightning… let’s get started! Keep reading to learn the essential vocabulary you’ll need to talk about speed in Spanish, plus a few interesting dichos (sayings) related to speed.

Speed in Spanish

When talking about “speed,” the principal nouns we use in Spanish are la velocidad and la rapidez. Here are some more useful general terms related to speed, followed by example sentences.

Spanish	English
A toda velocidad	At full speed
El velocímetro	Speedometer
El ritmo / el paso	Rate, pace
El límite de velocidad	Speed limit
Millas por hora	Miles per hour
Kilómetros por hora	Kilometers per hour
La prisa	Rush
Prontitud	Promptness
Mover	To move
Movimiento	Movement

¿Qué tan rápido ibas? – How fast were you going? 

Sólo a 45 millas por hora. – Only 45 miles per hour.

A este paso, llegaremos al lago en cuatro horas. – At this pace, we will reach the lake in four hours. 

El médico le mostró su ritmo cardíaco en un monitor. – The doctor showed him his heart rate on a monitor. 

Tómate tu tiempo, no hay prisa. – Take your time, there is no rush. 

Fast in Spanish

Days, jets, people, and animals can all go fast (or slow). Here’s a swift list of adjectives, adverbs, and verbs you’ll need to discuss all things fast in Spanish.

Adjectives

• Rápido/a – quick, fast, rapid

Juan corre muy rápido. – Juan runs very fast.

Sucedió tan rápido que apenas lo puedo recordar. – It happened so fast that I hardly remember it.

• Veloz – fast, swift 

Me gusta trotar, pero no soy veloz. – I like to jog, but I’m not fast.

Adverbs

• Rápidamente – quickly

Los venados se movieron rápidamente, así que no los pudimos seguir. – The deer moved fast, so we weren’t able to follow them.

• Deprisa – fast

Se fueron colina abajo cada vez más deprisa. – They went faster and faster down the hill.

Verbs

The following four verbs mean “to speed up” in Spanish:

1. Apresurarse – to speed (through)

Cuando te apresuras a hacer el trabajo, la calidad del proyecto sufre. – When you speed through your work, the project quality suffers.  

2. Exceder el límite de velocidad – to exceed the speed limit 

Las cámaras automáticas te dan una infracción si excedes el límite de velocidad. – Automatic cameras give you a ticket if you speed.  

3. Conducir velozmente – to speed

Cuando conducía velozmente, un policía me paró y me dio una advertencia. – When I was speeding, a policeman stopped me and gave me a warning.

4. Acelerar – to hasten, speed up, accelerate 

Tenemos que acelerar la reunión si queremos terminar a tiempo. – We need to speed up the meeting if we want to finish on time.

Our last “fast” phrase is actually quite slow, making it a good transition into the next section of this blog post

5. Profundamente dormido – fast asleep 

Anoche a las nueve, ya estaba profundamente dormido. – Last night, I was fast asleep by 9:00.

Slow in Spanish 

Slowing down the pace of life is generally a good thing. Check out these adjectives, adverbs, and verbs to express the concept of slowness in Spanish.

Adjectives

• Lento – slow

Íbamos a paso lento para disfrutar de los alrededores. – We kept a slow pace so we could enjoy the surroundings.

Lento can also refer to mental slowness. 

El alumno es un poco lento. Ten paciencia. – The student is a bit slow. Be patient. 

Also, lento/a can relate to something that is slow and therefore boring.

Esa canción era tan lenta que me durmió. – That song was so slow it put me to sleep.

Finally, this word can have a culinary connotation.

Sofría la cebolla a fuego lento. – Sauté the onions over a slow flame.

• Torpe – mentally sluggish

Ana es insoportablemente torpe antes de tomar café. – Ana is unbearably slow before she drinks coffee.

Adverbs

• Despacio – slow

El tráfico va despacio en la ruta 101. – The traffic is slow on route 101.

• Atrasado (watch or clock) – slow

El reloj está atrasado cinco minutos. – The clock is five minutes slow.

• Despacio – slowly

El caracol iba cada vez más despacio. – The snail was going slower and slower.

• Lentamente – slowly

Magda ha estado caminando lentamente desde su cirugía de la cadera. – Magda has been walking slowly since her hip surgery. 

Verbs

The following four verbs in Spanish that mean “to slow” or “to go slower”:

1. Reducir la velocidad  

El carro azul redujo la velocidad cerca del puente. – The blue car slowed near the bridge.

2. Aflojar el paso

La muchacha aflojó el paso para oler las rosas blancas del parque. – The girl slowed to smell the white roses in the park.

3. Disminuir la velocidad

El taxi disminuyó la velocidad y paró en el semáforo rojo. – The taxi slowed and stopped at the red light.

4. Entorpecer

Angela entorpeció las negociaciones con su actitud poco razonable. – Angela slowed the negotiations by being unreasonable.

Slow and Fast in Spanish: Sayings

The idea of speed finds its way into lots of common sayings. Here are eight of the most inspiring speed in Spanish quotes I’ve discovered.

Aquel que viaja con el estómago vacío, viaja muy rápido pero no llega muy lejos. 
He who travels on an empty stomach travels very fast but doesn’t get very far.

Conejo rápido no llega lejos. Tortuga llega segura. 
Slow and steady wins the race. (Literally. “Fast rabbit doesn’t get far. Turtle arrives for sure.”)

La gota hace charco, despacio o rápido. 
A drop makes a puddle, slowly or quickly.

Mejor tarde que nunca. 
Better late than never.

Lo que fácil llega, rápido se va. 
Easy come, easy go.

Nada se olvida más despacio que una ofensa y nada más rápido que un favor.
Nothing is forgotten more slowly than an offense and nothing more quickly than a favor.

Si quieres ir rápido, ve solo. Si quieres ir lejos, ven juntos.
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

No temas por ser lento, solamente teme estar parado.
Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

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