errar

Errar is a verb used in Spanish and Portuguese with two core senses: to miss a target and to be mistaken. In both languages it covers physical misses (such as failing to hit something) and errors in judgment, calculation, or reasoning. In Spanish, common expressions include errar el blanco or errar el tiro for missing, and errar en algo or errar las cifras for errors in details or figures.

Etymology: The verb comes from Latin errare, meaning “to wander, to err,” and is cognate with the English verb err and related Romance forms. The sense of deviation from correctness extends from literal aiming to broader mistakes.

Usage: In Spanish, errar can govern a direct object when indicating a miss (el blanco, el tiro) and can also be used with various complements to refer to mistakes in information, calculations, or decisions. It is used in formal and informal registers. The phrase errar en algo means to err in something, and errar el camino conveys going astray or losing one’s way.

Conjugation (selected forms): Present: yo erro, tú erras, él erra, nosotros erramos, vosotros erráis, ellos erran. Preterite: erré, erraste, erró, erramos, errasteis, erraron. Imperfect: erraba, errabas, erraba, errábamos, errabais, erraban. Gerund: errando. Past participle: errado. Imperative forms vary by mood and person, but common affirmative uses include erra (tú) and erre (usted).

See also: equivocar(se), error, errata.