familiarnos

Familiarnos is a nonstandard or colloquial neologism in Spanish that, in some informal contexts, is used to refer to the act of becoming familiar with someone or something, or of making a group familiar with a topic. It is not widely recognized by leading dictionaries, and speakers typically prefer more established forms.

Etymology and linguistic notes

The standard Spanish verb for this idea is familiarizarse, with the reflexive form familiarizarse meaning to become familiar with something oneself. The form familiarnos would be a nonstandard back-formation or shortening, combining familiar with the reflexive pronoun nos. Because it lacks acceptance in formal registers, its appearance is more common in casual speech, social media, or creative language.

Usage and examples

When used nonstandardly, familiarnos appears in sentences such as “Vamos a familiarnos con el nuevo protocolo.” In formal or neutral writing, or in everyday speech with greater accuracy, speakers would normally say “Vamos a familiarizarnos con el nuevo protocolo.” Other standard options include “ponerse al día con” or simply “conocerse” or “familiarizarse con” depending on the context. For example: “Necesitamos familiarizarnos con las normas” or “Necesitamos ponernos al día con las normas.”

Related terms and alternatives

- Familiarizarse: the standard reflexive verb.

- Ponerse al día: to catch up.

- Conocerse: to get to know each other.

See also

Linguistic evolution of Spanish verbs, Reflexive verbs in Spanish, Lexical innovation in Spanish.

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