salpicas

Salpicas is the second person singular present indicative form of the Spanish verb salpicar. The verb means to sprinkle or to splash small amounts of liquid or particles onto a surface, and can also be used in a figurative sense to mean peppering something with items such as details or rumors.

Salpicar is a regular -ar verb, so its present indicative conjugation is: yo salpic o, tú salpicas, él/ella/usted salpica, nosotros salpicamos, vosotros salpicáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes salpican. In dialects that use the vosotros form, salpicáis is common in Spain; in much of Latin America, ustedes salpican is used instead of vosotros.

Usage and nuance: literal uses include spraying oil, paint, or other substances onto a surface. Figurative uses include referring to a text, report, or discourse that is peppered with various elements such as datos, ideas, or insinuations. Common collocations include salpicar de, to indicate that something is sprinkled or peppered with a certain feature.

Examples: Tú salpicas salsa sobre la pizza. La lluvia salpicaba las ventanillas. Un informe que salpica de inconsistencias puede dañar la credibilidad del documento. In informal speech, salpicar a veces carries a sense of distributing or spreading in a somewhat irregular or dispersed way.

Related forms include salpicadura (a splash or splatter) and salpicado (smeared with droplets). The term is used across Spanish-speaking regions, with regional preferences for present-tense forms and pronouns.