Rascar

Rascar is a Spanish verb that commonly means to scratch or to scrape, either physically or metaphorically. It can describe the action of abrading a surface, removing material by scraping, or causing irritation by scratching. In addition to this literal sense, rascar is used in a variety of figurative expressions, such as scraping money together or extracting something with effort.

Etymology and related forms: Rascar derives from Latin rascare, meaning to scrape. It is a regular -ar verb in modern Spanish, with the usual stem rasca- in the present tense and standard endings for -ar verbs in other tenses. The verb forms include yo rasco, tú rascas, él/ella rasca, nosotros rascamos, vosotros rascáis, ellos rascan in the present indicative; preterite forms rasqué, rascaste, rascó, rascamos, rascastéis, rascaron; imperfect rasabamos? No, the correct imperfect is raspaba, raspabas, raspaba, raspábamos, raspabais, raspaban.

Conjugation notes: Rascar is regular in most tenses, but remember the preterite first-person singular uses rasqué to maintain the hard c sound before the -e ending. The verb is common in everyday speech and appears in many regional varieties of Spanish with the same core meanings.

Usage and examples: In physical terms, “rascar” describes scratching an itch or scratching a surface, as in “El gato rasca la puerta” (The cat scratches the door). In cleaning or preparing surfaces, one might say “rascar la pintura” to indicate scraping away paint. Metaphorically, it can mean to obtain with effort, as in “rascar un poco de dinero” (to scrape together a little money), or to approach a result narrowly, such as “rascar la memoria” in the sense of recalling a fragment of memory. The reflexive form “rascarse” covers actions like “rascarse la cabeza” (to scratch one’s head) or idioms like “rascarse el bolsillo” (to dip into one’s pocket).

See also: scratch cards may be referred to as “rascas,” and the act of scratching in various crafts and maintenance contexts.