The verb “estrenar”
I’ve always been rather fond of discovering words that have no direct translation in English, although they can be really tricky to explain to other people. A very good example of this is the verb “estrenar”. Let’s start off with a dictionary definition to give us some idea of the meaning. My dictionary says: “to use for the first time”, “to wear for the first time”, “to show off for the first time”, “to show for the first time, “to perform for the first time”. Here are some other definitions gathered from here and there: “to launch”, “to release”, “to premier”, “to make one’s debut” with this latter definition translating the reflexive form “estrenarse”.
The only sane way of understanding the use of this word is to see it in context. One of its most obvious associations is with show business. Here are some examples:
“Antonio Banderas, el actor y director malagueño, estrena un drama musical.” (Antonio Banderas, the actor and director from Malaga, is releasing a new musical drama.)
“Pedro Almodóvar estrenó “La Mala Educación” en Hollywood.” (Pedro Almodóvar premiered “La Mala Educación” in Hollywood)
From this basic meaning we can expand the use of “estrenar” to express all sorts of everyday meanings. “Estreno estos zapatos hoy” (I’m wearing these shoes for the first time today). “Esta blusa está sin estrenar” (I haven’t worn this blouse yet).
Already you can see that direct translations of this word are impossible, and we have to find a phrase that provides the same meaning in English, depending on the exact context.
At some time you may have been looking at advertisements in the newspaper, or in an estate agents window and come across this phrase: “Se vende piso a estrenar”. It means that a brand new flat, or at least, a flat that hasn’t been lived in before, is for sale. The literal meaning is: “One sells a flat to be used for the first time” – now translate that into English!
Here is an interesting sentence I’ve just come across: “Este año todavía no me he ido de fiesta. Estoy sin estrenar”. (This year I haven’t been to a party yet. I am “sin estrenar” – without being shown off for the first time?!) As you can see, words start to fail and we’re into the territory of things that can be said so neatly in one language, and just don’t exist in another.
When we are talking about old and new clothing, there is rather a nice “sort-of ” opposite to the word “estrenar”, which is “estar visto” (literally: to be seen”). If you don’t want to wear something that you have worn lots of times already, you can say: “No quiero ponerme ese vestido, está muy visto”. (I don’t want to put that dress on, it’s very “seen”). In English we sometimes say that something is “old hat”, but that does sound quite right when talking about a dress. No wonder we all end up speaking Spanglish, it’s by far the easiest solution.