Spanish Banks Are Growing: What Does It Mean?

Key vocabulary

• bancom.

  bank

  “El banco abre a las nueve.”— The bank opens at nine.

  Pattern banco central central bank

  Compare entidad bancaria (banking institution)

  Plural: bancos

  💡 From Germanic bank (bench); in old times money changers traded on benches.

• banca de inversiónf.

  investment banking

  “La banca de inversión es un negocio importante.”— Investment banking is an important business.

  Pattern banca de inversión investment banking

  Compare banco de inversión (investment bank)

  Plural: bancas de inversión

  💡 banca refers to banking, inversión comes from invertir (to invest), often related to comisiones.

• crecerv.

  to grow, to increase

  “La economía quiere crecer este año.”— The economy wants to grow this year.

  Pattern crecer en to grow in...

  Compare aumentar (to increase), desarrollarse (to develop)

  Present: crezco, creces, crece, crecemos, crecéis, crecen

  💡 The root comes from Latin crescere, cognate with 'crescent', symbolizing growth.

• contratarv.

  to hire, to contract

  “La empresa contrata a nuevos trabajadores.”— The company hires new workers.

  Pattern contratar a alguien to hire someone

  Compare emplear (to employ)

  Present: contrato, contratas, contrata, contratamos, contratáis, contratan

  💡 The root comes from Latin contractus, meaning 'to sign a contract'; hiring often requires signing a contract.

• operaciónf.

  operation, transaction

  “La operación en Bolsa fue un éxito.”— The stock market transaction was a success.

  Pattern operación bancaria bank operation

  Compare transacción (transaction)

  Plural: operaciones

  💡 Root oper- (work), -ción forms a noun, cognate with English operation.

• préstamom.

  loan

  “El préstamo del banco es para la casa.”— The bank loan is for the house.

  Pattern préstamo bancario bank loan

  Compare crédito (credit loan)

  Plural: préstamos

  💡 From the verb prestar (to lend), the suffix -amo indicates the result, i.e., the thing lent.

• ingresom.

  income, revenue

  “Los ingresos del mes son altos.”— This month's income is high.

  Pattern ingresos por comisiones commission income

  Compare ganancia (profit)

  Plural: ingresos

  💡 From Latin ingressus, originally meaning 'entry', extended to mean 'income'.

• comisiónf.

  commission, fee

  “El banco cobra una comisión por el servicio.”— The bank charges a fee for the service.

  Pattern cobrar comisión to charge a commission; comisión bancaria bank fee

  Compare tarifa (fee), honorarios (honorarium)

  Plural: comisiones

  💡 From Latin commissio, composed of com- (together) + mittere (to send), originally referring to payment for entrusted business.

Grammar spotlight

Sentence patterns to steal

• CaixaBank es un banco importante en España.

  CaixaBank is an important bank in Spain.

  Subject + es + article + noun + adjectiveSubject (e.g., Santander, BBVA) and adjective (e.g., importante, grande)

• Santander es el número uno en este negocio.

  Santander is number one in this business.

  Subject + es el número uno en + fieldSubject and field (e.g., el mercado, la banca)

• Estas actividades dan más ingresos por comisiones.

  These activities generate more commission income.

  Estas + noun + dan + más + nounnoun (e.g., operaciones, ventas) and result (e.g., ingresos, beneficios)