Do you know how to say “now” in Spanish? What about “right now” in Spanish? 🙌

Find out what is the difference between ahora, ahorita, and ahora mismo in Spanish, and learn new ways to say “now” in a new language.

So what is “now” in Spanish? You probably know that ahora is the Spanish equivalent of “now.” But what about ahorita and ahora mismo? Well, they all mean “now” in Spanish, the only difference being which time they represent: the present moment, something that happened not very long ago (pretty close to the present moment, but still in the past), or something that will happen in the future not too far from now. Depending on the context, we use ahora, ahorita, and ahora mismo to talk about the recent past, the actual present, or the upcoming future. I find this similar to saying “I’m on my way”: in Spanish, you have many options with slightly different translations based on usage and tense (or time.)

As you can see, you have three options to say “now” in Spanish, and each one of them denotes a certain moment in time, all close to the present moment. Let’s see some examples with ahora, ahorita, and ahora mismo.

Difference between ahora, ahorita, and ahora mismo

Ahora, pronounced ah-oh-rah, is a Spanish adverb meaning “now.” But for Spanish speakers, ahora can also mean not too far into the future or even in the past. It’s not exactly “right now.” So if you tell someone to do something ahora, it’s very likely they will wait a bit, even postpone it. Here are a couple of examples:

• Ahora es mi turno y luego será el tuyo. – Now it’s my turn and then it’ll be yours.
• Ahora entro. – I’ll come in in a minute.

For more examples with ahora, I recommend SpanishDict. They have a good selection of many many useful examples.

Ahorita for the upcoming future

If you want to talk about “now” as in “very soon,” then what you can do is add the diminutive “-ita” and use ahorita instead. Ahorita, pronounced ah-oh-ree-tah, is also a Spanish adverb, and means “right now,” “shortly,” or “in a minute.” As you can see, ahorita can also be used for activities happening in the upcoming future (same as ahora.) Here are some examples:

• Ahorita llamo a tu hermana. – I’ll call your sister in a minute.
• Lo hago ahorita. Déjame descansar un poco. – I’ll do it in a while. Let me rest a little.

“Right now” in Spanish: ahora mismo

So what can you say if you mean “right now?” In this case, the best you can use is ahora mismo. Ahora mismo, pronounced ah-oh-rah mees-moh, is a phrase used to express “right now,” “right away,” or “just now.” It’s the go-to phrase for when you want something done now and you mean it. Here are a few examples:

• Lo haré ahora mismo. – I’ll do it right away.
• ¡Limpia tu recámara ahora mismo! – Clean up your bedroom right now!

How do you say “now” in Spanish? Watch the video below and learn more:

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