recién

Recién is a Spanish adverb used to indicate that something happened or has existed not long ago, equivalent to “recently” or “just.” It commonly accompanies verbs and participles to emphasize immediacy or freshness, and it can appear before a participle or before a noun in fixed expressions such as “recién llegado” or “recién nacido.”

Etymology and form: Recién derives from the adjective reciente, meaning “recent,” which in turn comes from the Latin recens, meaning “fresh” or “new.” The word is written with an acute accent on the é to mark its stressed syllable. It functions primarily as an adverb, but it also forms compound phrases with participles and with nouns in the sense of “newly” or “recently.”

Usage and examples: Recién is versatile in placement. Before a conjugated verb it expresses immediacy: “Recién llegué a casa.” It can precede a past participle to form expressions like “recién hecho” or “recién llegado,” meaning “just arrived” or “newly made.” It can also appear before a noun in the sense of “newly arrived” or “newborn”: “un recién llegado,” “una recién nacida.” In addition, it can substitute for “hace poco” in informal speech, especially in Latin American usage, to stress that something occurred very recently, as in “Recién nos enteramos.”

Notes: The standard spelling is with an accent on é; without it, recien is considered incorrect in standard Spanish. While widely used across Spanish varieties, its frequency and placement can vary by dialect. In many contexts, it is interchangeable with phrases like “hace poco” or “acaba de,” depending on emphasis and register.