How to use “mismo” in Spanish

‘Mismo’ can be a confusing word to understand in Spanish because it has several uses; it can mean ‘same’, ‘right’ or ‘only’. You will hear it used as an adjective, a pronoun or an adverb.

In today’s blog post we will try to simplify ‘mismo’ for you to understand it more easily.

1) Mismo as an adjective

When you hear mismo used as an adjective it must agree with the noun it goes before. Here are some examples:

Llegan la misma semana – They come the same week
El mismo apartamento – The same apartment
Los mismos restaurantes – The same restaurants
Las mismas amigas – The same friends

You always put mismo/a/os/as before the noun and it has to agree with it – whether the noun is singular, plural, masculine or feminine.

2) Mismo as an adverb

When mismo is used as an adverb it is used to emphasise something.

Aquí mismo – Right here
Ahora mismo – Right now
Ayer mismo – Only yesterday
Así mismo – similarly/moreover

3) Mismo as a pronoun

When mismo is used as a pronoun, it replaces the noun previously mentioned:

e.g. El año pasado me quedé en un hotel fantástico y este año voy a quedarme en el mismo.
(Last year I stayed in an amazing hotel and this year I am going to stay in the same one.)

4) Mismo can mean ‘Identical’

As a slight change from mismo meaning “the same”, it can mean identical to describe things that are identical is colour, weight or weight:

Nuestras chaquetas son del mismo color.
(Our jackets are of identical colour)

Ana y Carmen tienen el mismo estilo de pelo.
(Ana and Carmen have identical hairstyles)

5) Mismo can mean ‘similar’

Another slight variation of meaning is when mismo can mean ‘similar’. You can talk about doing things in a similar way.

Pedro y José estudian de la misma manera.
(Pedro and Jose study in a similar way.)

Tú tienes la misma forma de hablar que tu hermana.
(You speak in a similar way to your sister.)

6) Lo mismo

When you hear lo + mismo it just means “the same” or “the same thing”.

e.g. Es lo mismo – It’s the same/It’s the same thing.

7) Mí mismo, ti mismo, sí mismo

Another tricky use of ‘mismo’ is when you want to say ‘myself’, ‘yourself’ or ‘oneself’.
These are used after a preposition:

Lo hice por mí mismo *. – I did it for myself. (implying you do not need anyone else to do it)
* If you are female you would have to change mí mismo to mí misma.
Cocinas por ti mismo. – You cook for yourself.
Decidió hacerlo por sí mismo. – He decided to do it for himself.

Conclusion

The best way to learn how to use ‘mismo’ as with any other new or tricky phrase, is to try to use it as much as possible in real examples. Try to come up with some sample sentences yourself of how you would use ‘mismo’ in every day speaking. Think of situations when you have used ‘mismo’ used and try to come up with similar ones. As with everything worth learning – practice makes perfect!