Spanish Banks Grow and Share Profits

Key vocabulary

• bancom.

  bank

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

  Pattern banco central (central bank); banco de sangre (blood bank)

  Compare entidad financiera (financial institution); caja (savings bank)

  Plural form is bancos.

  💡 Associate with English 'bank'; note that Spanish 'b' is voiced at the beginning of a word.

• crecerv.

  to grow, increase

  “La empresa quiere crecer este año.”— The company wants to grow this year.

  Pattern crecer rápido (grow rapidly); crecer en (grow in)

  Compare aumentar (increase); expandirse (expand)

  Present tense conjugation: crezco, creces, crece, crecemos, crecéis, crecen (note the z to c change in the first person singular).

  💡 Cognate with 'crescent'; imagine the moon gradually becoming full.

• dividendom.

  dividend

  “El banco paga dividendos a sus accionistas.”— The bank pays dividends to its shareholders.

  Pattern pagar dividendos (pay dividends); dividendo activo (stock dividend)

  Compare beneficio repartido (distributed profit); renta (income)

  Plural form is dividendos.

  💡 From Latin 'dividere' (to divide); associate with 'divide'.

• beneficiom.

  profit

  “La empresa tiene muchos beneficios.”— The company has many profits.

  Pattern beneficio neto (net profit); obtener beneficios (make profits)

  Compare ganancia (gain); utilidad (profit)

  Plural form is beneficios.

  💡 Cognate with English 'benefit', but in Spanish it more often refers to economic profit.

• tipo de interésm.

  interest rate

  “El tipo de interés es bajo ahora.”— The interest rate is low now.

  Pattern tipo de interés fijo (fixed interest rate); tipo de interés variable (variable interest rate)

  Compare tasa de interés (interest rate); interés (interest)

  Plural form is tipos de interés.

  💡 Note that 'interés' has an accent mark; the accent remains in the plural.

• demandaf.

  demand

  “Hay mucha demanda de viviendas.”— There is a lot of demand for housing.

  Pattern demanda de crédito (credit demand); oferta y demanda (supply and demand)

  Compare necesidad (need); requisito (requirement)

  Plural form is demandas.

  💡 Cognate with English 'demand', but in Spanish it is more commonly used in economic contexts.

• créditom.

  credit; loan

  “Necesito un crédito para comprar un coche.”— I need a loan to buy a car.

  Pattern solicitar un crédito (apply for a loan); crédito hipotecario (mortgage loan)

  Compare préstamo (loan); financiación (financing)

  Plural form is créditos.

  💡 Cognate with English 'credit', but note the accent mark in Spanish.

• accionistam./f.

  shareholder

  “Los accionistas reciben dividendos.”— Shareholders receive dividends.

  Pattern accionista mayoritario (majority shareholder); accionista minoritario (minority shareholder)

  Compare inversor (investor); partícipe (participant)

  Masculine plural: accionistas; feminine plural: accionistas (same form).

  💡 From 'acción' (share) + -ista; associate with 'shareholder'.

• invertirv.

  to invest

  “Quiero invertir en tecnología.”— I want to invest in technology.

  Pattern invertir en (invest in); invertir dinero (invest money)

  Compare colocar (place); capitalizar (capitalize)

  Present tense conjugation: invierto, inviertes, invierte, invertimos, invertís, invierten (note the e→ie stem change).

  💡 Cognate with English 'invert', but in Spanish it is commonly used in the sense of investing.

• serviciom.

  service

  “El servicio digital es muy útil.”— The digital service is very useful.

  Pattern servicio al cliente (customer service); servicios financieros (financial services)

  Compare atención (service); asistencia (assistance)

  Plural form is servicios.

  💡 Cognate with English 'service'; note the different stress position in Spanish.

Grammar spotlight

Sentence patterns to steal

• Los bancos quieren crecer y dar dividendos.

  The banks want to grow and pay dividends.

  Subject + querer + infinitive + y + infinitiveYou can change the subject and both verbs, e.g., Yo quiero estudiar y viajar.

• Para esto, van a usar 10.000 millones de euros.

  For this, they are going to use 10 billion euros.

  Para esto, + ir a + infinitive + amountYou can change the amount, e.g., Para esto, voy a usar dos horas.

• Ahora los tipos de interés son estables.

  Now interest rates are stable.

  Ahora + subject + ser/estar + adjectiveYou can change the subject and adjective, e.g., Ahora el clima es agradable.

• La gente pide préstamos para comprar casas y coches.

  People ask for loans to buy houses and cars.

  Subject + verb + para + infinitiveYou can change the verb and the purpose, e.g., Estudio para aprender español.

• Los clientes pueden usar mejores servicios digitales.

  Customers can use better digital services.

  Subject + poder + infinitive + objectYou can change the subject and object, e.g., Puedo leer libros en línea.