You’re standing there, trying to tell your new friends in Mexico City that "we are going together," and suddenly your brain freezes. You know the word juntos. Everyone knows juntos. But then you hear a local say a la vez or de la mano or even a la par, and you realize the textbook version of how to say together in Spanish is barely scratching the surface of how people actually talk.
Spanish is a language of nuance. Honestly, it’s a language of relationships. If you use the wrong word for "together," you might accidentally imply you’re dating someone when you just meant you were walking in the same direction. It’s tricky.
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way. Juntos is the heavy hitter. It’s the direct translation. But even juntos has rules that English speakers trip over constantly because of gender agreement. If you’re a guy hanging out with your brother, you’re juntos. If you’re a girl with your sister, you’re juntas. If there is even one guy in a group of fifty women? Juntos.
Grammar is weird like that.
The Many Faces of Juntos and When It Fails You
Most learners treat juntos like a Swiss Army knife. It’s not. It’s more like a hammer—great for specific things, but you wouldn’t use it to fix a watch.
When we talk about how to say together in Spanish, we usually mean physical proximity or a shared action. Vivimos juntos (We live together). Cocinamos juntos (We cook together). It’s simple. It’s clean. But what happens when "together" doesn't mean "at the same side" but "at the same time"?
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If you say "The cars crashed together," and you use juntos, a native speaker might give you a funny look. They’d likely use a la vez or al mismo tiempo. Why? Because juntos implies a level of intentionality or a physical bond that inanimate objects crashing into each other doesn't quite capture.
The Gender Trap
Spanish is obsessed with gender. You’ve probably noticed.
- Ellos están juntos. (They are together - masculine/mixed).
- Ellas están juntas. (They are together - feminine).
If you’re talking about "working together" in a professional sense, you might say trabajar en conjunto. This sounds a bit more formal, like something you’d see in a LinkedIn post from a Madrid-based tech firm. It’s less about "being" together and more about "acting as a unit."
Beyond the Basics: Colloquialisms That Make You Sound Local
If you want to actually sound like you’ve spent time in a Spanish-speaking country, you need to ditch juntos occasionally.
Take the phrase de la mano. Literally, it means "by the hand." But figuratively? It means things are going together or happening in tandem. "La inflación y el desempleo van de la mano." (Inflation and unemployment go together). You wouldn’t say they are juntos there—it would sound like they’re dating at a cafe.
Then there is a la par. This one is gold.
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I remember sitting in a small cafe in Buenos Aires, listening to two guys talk about their businesses. They didn't say they were working juntos. They said they were working a la par. It implies equality. Side by side. It’s a subtle shift, but it changes the entire energy of the sentence.
What about "get together"?
This is where English speakers really struggle. In English, we "get together" for coffee, for meetings, for dates. Spanish doesn't have a single word for this. You have to use quedar or reunirse.
¿Quedamos para un café? (Shall we get together for a coffee?)
Nos reunimos el martes. (We’re getting together/meeting on Tuesday.)
If you say nos ponemos juntos, you’re basically saying "we are placing ourselves next to each other," which sounds like you’re preparing for a group photo, not a social hang.
Regional Variations: From Spain to the Americas
Spanish isn't a monolith. How you express the idea of togetherness changes depending on whether you’re in a crowded bar in Madrid or a plaza in Medellín.
In Spain, you’ll hear juntamente in formal contexts, though it’s a bit stiff. In many parts of Latin America, people might use en unión de. It sounds a bit like a wedding invitation, right? But it’s used to show a strong, unified front.
There's also the concept of convivir. If you’re "living together" as a couple but aren't married, people often use the verb convivir rather than just saying vivimos juntos. It carries the weight of the shared life, the shared bills, the shared arguments over whose turn it is to do the dishes.
The "All Together" Confusion
"All together, now!"
If you’re trying to rally a crowd, you don't say juntos. You say todos a una. This is a classic expression. It comes from the idea of everyone acting as a single unit. Think of it like "all for one."
If you’re talking about a total amount—like "that will be $50 all together"—you use en total.
- ¿Cuánto es en total? Using juntos there would make it sound like the dollar bills are physically huddled together for warmth. Context is everything.
Technical Nuances: Together as a Prefix or Suffix
Sometimes, the idea of "together" is baked right into the verb. You don't even need a separate word.
- Acompañar: To go together with someone.
- Colaborar: To work together.
- Convivir: To live together.
Notice the "co-" prefix? Just like in English (cooperate, coexist), Spanish uses these Latin roots to imply togetherness without needing the word juntos to clutter up the sentence.
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Actually, using juntos with these verbs can sometimes be redundant. Colaboramos juntos is like saying "we collaborated together." A bit much, right? Just colaboramos does the trick.
Common Mistakes That Give You Away as a Gringo
One of the funniest mistakes is using junto a when you mean juntos.
Junto a means "next to" or "beside."
Juntos means "together."
If you say Estoy junto a María, you are physically standing next to her.
If you say Estoy con María, you are "with" her (together).
If you say María y yo estamos juntos, you are "together" (possibly as a couple).
The distinction is tiny but massive. I’ve seen students try to translate "The shoes are together in the box" and say Los zapatos están juntos. That works! But if they say Los zapatos están junto a la caja, the shoes are now outside the box, sitting on the floor next to it.
Why "Together" in Spanish Matters for E-E-A-T
When we look at language learning through the lens of expertise, we have to look at how native speakers perceive intent. According to studies by linguists like John Lipski, who specializes in Spanish dialectology, the way we frame "togetherness" reflects social hierarchy and intimacy in Hispanic cultures.
Using juntos for a business partnership might sound too informal or even intimate in certain conservative business environments in Bogota or Santiago. In those cases, asociados or en colaboración preserves the professional boundary while maintaining the meaning of "together."
Actionable Steps for Mastering "Together"
Stop trying to memorize a list. Start looking for the "why" behind the togetherness.
- Check for Gender: Before the word leaves your mouth, ask: Who am I talking about? If there's a mix or just men, it's juntos. If it's all women, it's juntas.
- Identify the Action: Is it physical proximity? Use junto a. Is it a shared activity? Use juntos. Is it a shared time? Use a la vez.
- Use Verbs Instead: Try to use verbs like quedar or reunirse instead of trying to force "get together" into a Spanish sentence structure.
- Listen for "A la par": Start incorporating a la par when talking about things happening simultaneously or with equal effort. It makes you sound instantly more fluent.
- Watch the Couple Implication: Be careful using estamos juntos with a member of the opposite sex unless you want people to think you’re dating. If you just mean you’re in the same spot, say estamos aquí los dos.
Learning how to say together in Spanish is really about learning how people connect. It’s not just a vocabulary word; it’s a social map. Use juntos when you’re talking about heart or body, but use the rest of the toolkit when you’re talking about the world.
To really nail this, go watch a Spanish-language film without subtitles and count how many times they say juntos versus how many times they use a verb like acompañar. You'll be surprised how rarely the "textbook" word actually shows up in real life. That's your best path to sounding like a native: listen to the gaps where the textbook fails and fill them with the phrases people actually use.