Pause and Learn: The Many Ways to Say ‘Stop’ in Spanish

Stop in Spanish: Alto

“Alto” translates into English as “High” or “Tall”, but when used as one of the Spanish imperatives, it takes on a different meaning. Depending on the context, “alto” is used to ask someone to stop or cease what they’re doing. While not a commonly used phrase in the everyday narrative, police officers in certain countries frequently use it to command a fugitive to halt. Let’s explore some examples of using the word “alto“:

• “Alto.” – Stop.
• “Alto ahí.” – Stop there.
• “Manos en alto.” (Hands up) – Although in this sentence the word “alto” translates as “up”, it is an expression used by members of the police or military forces that have the implicit meaning of asking someone to stop, in addition to raising their hands.
• “Hay que ponerle un alto al crimen.” – Crime must be stopped.
• “Alto al fuego.” – Ceasefire.

Stop in Spanish: Parar

The verb “parar” ranks among the most popular and frequently used ways to express “stop” in Spanish. However, it’s essential not to confuse this verb with the preposition “para“, which generally translates as “for”. While they might seem similar, their usage and meaning are distinctly different. Here are some examples where the verb “parar” (to stop) is used in its infinitive form:

• “Voy a parar de hacer esto.” – I’m going to stop doing this.
• “Ayudame a parar el autobus.” – Help me stop the bus.
• “No sé como parar, ¿Me ayudas?” – I don’t know how to stop, can you help me?
• “Él no quiere parar.” – He doesn’t want to stop.
• “¿Por qué parar? Sigamos adelante.” – Why stop? Let’s move on.

However, this does not end here, as there are many ways to conjugate the word “stop” referring to stopping something or someone. For example, the command “Stop”, which is an order given to a person or thing to stop what they are doing, could be conjugated in each pronoun “you” and “we” in Spanish in the following ways:

Some examples of these command conjugations are:

• “Para de hacer esto.” – Stop doing this
• “Quiero que pare de jugar ahora.” – I want you to stop playing now.
• “Por favor, paren con la fiesta.” – Please stop the party.



Conjugation of “parar” in each pronoun

The following table summarizes the form of conjugation of the verb “parar” in each personal pronoun:

Some examples with each pronoun are the following:

• “Yo paro con la actuación cuando el director me lo pide.” – I stop acting when the director asks me to.
• “Cada vez que usted para de correr, yo me tranquilizo.” – Every time you stop running, I calm down.
• “Si tú no paras, yo no paro.” – If you don’t stop, I don’t stop.
• “Normalmente, él para de jugar fútbol media hora después.” – Normally, he stops playing soccer half an hour later.
• “Algunas veces ella para un taxi para ir a la universidad.” – Sometimes she hails a taxi to go to the university.
• “Cuando ustedes paran de bailar, la gente se aburre.” – When you stop dancing, people get bored.
• “Si vosotros paráis de desobedecer, no los castigaré.” – If you stop disobeying, I will not punish you.
• “Ellos paran el tráfico de la ciudad.” – They stop the city traffic.
• “Algunas veces paramos para ir a comer, sólo si alguien tiene hambre.” – Sometimes we stop to go eat, only if someone is hungry.

Usage of “parar de”

Normally, the expression “parar” is used when we will next mention a noun. This is the structure of a normal sentence:

• Pronoun + parar (conjugated-optional) + noun
  Example: “Ella para la fiesta.” / She stops the party.

However, in Spanish, you can use the expression “stop from” in an infinitive or conjugated form, if it is followed by an infinitive verb. The structure is this:

• Pronoun + parar de (conjugated) + infinitive verb + noun/complement (optional)
  Example: “Ellos paran de practicar baloncesto.” / They stop practicing basketball.

Some concrete examples are:

• “Yo paro de cantar cuando me desafino.” – I stop singing when I go out of tune.
• “Ellos paran de jugar a la Playstation.“ – They stop playing Playstation.
• “Nosotros paramos de tener relaciones íntimas.” – We stop having intimate relationships.
• “Ustedes paran de sentirse alegres cuando llega su madre.” – You stop feeling happy when your mother arrives.
• “Ella para de ver televisión cuando se aburre.” – She stops watching TV when she gets bored.

More about “stop” as a verb and noun

The verb “parar” can have several different meanings to “stop”, such as the following:

• Ponerse de pie – To stand up:
  “Camila, si te puedes parar de la silla, hazlo ahora.“ – Camila, if you can get up from the chair, do it now.
• Hacer huelga – To go on strike:
  “Invitamos a todos los estudiantes de la universidad a parar este fin de semana.“ – We invite all the students of the university to go on strike this weekend.

As for nouns, we can also find several examples of different meanings such as the following:

• Huelga – Strike:
  “Hoy hay huelga de hambre.“ –  Today there is a hunger strike.

• Paro – Unemployment: This meaning applies mainly to Spain, where there is a program in which the unemployed can benefit from “paro”, that is, they can have a salary while they get another job.
  “El paro me deja más pasta que mi antiguo trabajo.” – Paro gives me more money than my old job.

• Parada – Stop: (as in bus stop):
  “La parada de bus queda allá.“ – The bus stop is there.
  

• Paradero – Whereabouts:
  “No sabemos cuál fue su paradero.“ – We don’t know what his whereabouts were.

Stop in Spanish: “Dejar” or “Dejar de”

Another phrase or expression widely used in Spanish is to refer to “stop” someone or something, that is to say “to stop”. Some examples in the infinitive are the following:

• “Debo dejar el cigarillo cuanto antes.” – I have to quit smoking as soon as possible.
• “Tu puedes dejar de practicar si no te gusta.” – You can stop practicing if you don’t like it.
• “Ellos necesitan dejar la pelea.” – They need to stop the fight.