What does “se me da bien las manos” mean in Spanish?

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A2 Spanish listening practice · Spanish from Spain · Picked for people who know a little

💡 Did you know?
se me da bien las manos
Saying you're good at something
I’m good with my hands“ — but Spanish builds it as ”it gives itself well to me.

A boy in Madrid says he wants to be a physiotherapist “porque se me da bien las manos” — because he’s good with his hands. Notice he doesn’t say “I am good.” Spanish often flips it: the skill is the thing that “gives itself well” to you, and “me” marks who it comes easy for. So a talent feels less like something you own and more like something that just clicks for you.

Spoken line: “porque se me da bien las manos” — “because I’m good with my hands.” The verb dar (to give) carries the idea. The “me” tells you who the skill comes easy for, and “bien” says it goes well. Swap the noun to talk about anything: - Se me dan bien los idiomas — “I’m good at languages.” (idiomas is plural, so the verb becomes dan.) - Se me da bien cocinar — “I’m good at cooking.” - No se me da bien el dibujo — “I’m not good at drawing.” In careful speech you’d hear se me dan bien las manos (manos is plural), though the boy keeps it as da — both are easy to follow.

How common are the words?

How common are the words in this A2 Spanish listening practice video?

93%
of words are in the top 2,000 most common Spanish words
Most of the words in this video are common Spanish words.

How common in written Spanish

91.7%
Top 1,000
93%
Top 2,000
96.4%
Top 5,000

How common in spoken Spanish

88.3%
Top 1,000
92.6%
Top 2,000
100%
Top 5,000

Harder words in this video

These words are harder than A2. Here is what they mean.

ajá
10×
Not in top 5,000People say this a lot
aha
gameplays
5×
Not in top 5,000
gameplay videos
ethan
4×
Not in top 5,000
(proper noun) Ethan
vlogs
4×
Not in top 5,000
video blogs
youtuber
3×
Not in top 5,000
YouTuber

Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-ESP 2011 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.

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