Song guide
Ahora te puedes marchar
Luis Miguel
Ahora te puedes marchar by Luis Miguel, line by line: what the lyrics mean, 26 expressions explained and 206 words translated with their grammar. Learn Spanish from the song, free.
Lyrics with English translation, line by line
Each line as sung, what it means, and — where it needs one — why it's said that way.
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Si tú me hubieras dicho siempre la verdad
If you had always told me the truth
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Si hubieras respondido cuando te llamé
If you had answered when I called you
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Si hubieras amado cuando te amé
If you had loved me when I loved you
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Serías en mis sueños la mejor mujer
You would be the best woman in my dreams
The phrase «la mejor mujer» ('the best woman') in the context of dreams is a common romantic trope in Latin pop and bachata — idealizing a partner as they could have been, not as they were.
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Si no supiste amar
If you didn't know how to love
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Ahora te puedes marchar
Now you can leave
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Si tú supieras lo que yo sufrí por ti
If you only knew what I suffered for you
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Teniendo que olvidarte sin saber por qué
Having to forget you without knowing why
The image of being forced to forget someone 'without knowing why' — being left without explanation — is a recurring theme in Latin urban and romantic music, reflecting the pain of unexplained abandonment.
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Y ahora me llamas, me quieres ver
And now you call me, you want to see me
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Me juras que has cambiado y piensas en volver
You swear to me that you've changed and you're thinking about coming back
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Si no supiste amar
If you didn't know how to love
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Ahora te puedes marchar
Now you can leave
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Aléjate de mí
Stay away from me
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No hay nada más que hablar
There is nothing more to talk about
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Contigo, yo perdí
With you, I lost
«Contigo yo perdí» uses the contrast of losing (perder) and winning (ganar) as a metaphor for relationships — a common rhetorical device in Spanish-language pop and urban music to frame love as a competition or game.
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Ya tengo con quién ganar
I already have someone to win with
«Ya tengo con quién ganar» implies the singer has moved on and found a new partner. The word «ya» adds a sense of finality and present-tense resolution — 'I already have someone now' — a common closing statement in breakup songs.
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Ya sé que no hubo nadie que te diera lo que yo te di
I know that no one gave you what I gave you
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Que nadie te ha cuidado como te cuidé
That no one has taken care of you the way I took care of you
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Por eso, comprendo que estas aquí
That's why I understand that you are here
«Estas» in the lyrics is written without an accent mark, but the grammatically correct form is «estás» (with accent) for the 2nd person singular present of «estar». This is a common informal or typographical omission in song lyrics.
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Pero ha pasado el tiempo y yo también cambié
But time has passed and I have changed too
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Si no supiste amar
If you didn't know how to love
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Ahora te puedes marchar
Now you can leave
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Aléjate de mí
Stay away from me
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No hay nada más que hablar
There is nothing more to talk about
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Contigo yo perdí
With you I lost
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Ya tengo con quién ganar
I already have someone to win with
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Ya sé que no hubo nadie que te diera lo que yo te di
I know that no one gave you what I gave you
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Que nadie te ha cuidado como te cuidé
That no one has taken care of you the way I took care of you
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Por eso, comprendo que estas aquí
That's why I understand that you are here
Same note as line 18: «estas» should be «estás» with an accent. The omission of written accents is frequent in song lyrics, social media, and informal writing throughout the Spanish-speaking world.
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Pero ha pasado tiempo y yo también cambié
But time has passed and I have changed too
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Si no supiste amar
If you didn't know how to love
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Ahora te puedes marchar
Now you can leave
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Si no supiste amar
If you didn't know how to love
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Ahora te puedes marchar
Now you can leave
Expressions and idioms in “Ahora te puedes marchar”
The lines that don't mean what the dictionary says.
- Si tú me hubieras dicho If you had told me
- This is a past counterfactual conditional using the pluperfect subjunctive (hubiera + past participle). Spanish uses «si» + pluperfect subjunctive to express something that did not happen in the past — equivalent to English 'if you had done something'.
- hubieras dicho you had said / you had told
- The pluperfect subjunctive is formed with the imperfect subjunctive of «haber» (hubiera/hubieras) + past participle. «Dicho» is the irregular past participle of «decir» (to say/tell).
- hubieras respondido you had answered
- Another pluperfect subjunctive construction: imperfect subjunctive of «haber» + past participle of «responder». Used in the same counterfactual «si» clause pattern as line 0.
- cuando te llamé when I called you
- «Te» here is the direct object pronoun placed before the verb, meaning 'you'. Spanish object pronouns always precede conjugated verbs, unlike English where the object follows the verb.
- cuando te amé when I loved you
- «Te amé» uses the preterite tense to describe a completed past action. The object pronoun «te» precedes the verb, a fixed rule in Spanish for unstressed object pronouns with conjugated verbs.
- hubieras amado you had loved
- Third instance of the pluperfect subjunctive pattern in the opening «si» clauses. The repetition of this structure across lines 0–2 is a deliberate rhetorical device listing unfulfilled conditions.
- no supiste amar you didn't know how to love
- «Saber» + infinitive means 'to know how to do something' — it expresses ability or skill, not just knowledge of a fact. This is different from «conocer», which means to know a person or place.
- te puedes marchar you can leave
- «Marcharse» is a reflexive verb meaning 'to leave / to go away'. The reflexive pronoun «te» is placed before the conjugated modal «puedes». This is the reflexive form of «marchar»; the reflexive adds the sense of departing from a place.
- lo que yo sufrí por ti what I suffered for you
- «Lo que» functions as a relative pronoun meaning 'what' or 'that which'. It introduces a noun clause. «Por ti» uses «por» to express cause or motivation ('for your sake / because of you'), and «ti» is the stressed pronoun used after prepositions.
- sufrí por ti I suffered for you
- «Por» + stressed pronoun expresses cause, motivation, or on behalf of someone. «Ti» (not «tú») is the form used after prepositions. Compare: «para ti» (for you, as a recipient) vs «por ti» (because of you / for your sake).
- Si tú supieras If you only knew
- «Supieras» is the imperfect subjunctive of «saber». A «si» clause with the imperfect subjunctive expresses a present or future hypothetical that the speaker considers unlikely or contrary to fact — 'if you knew (but you don't)'.
- sin saber por qué without knowing why
- «Sin» + infinitive is a fixed construction meaning 'without doing something'. «Por qué» (two words, with accent) means 'why' in questions and indirect questions, distinguishing it from «porque» (because) and «porqué» (the reason).
- Teniendo que olvidarte Having to forget you
- «Tener que» + infinitive expresses obligation or necessity ('to have to do something'). Here it appears as a gerund: «teniendo que» = 'having to'. The clitic «-te» is attached to the infinitive «olvidar», meaning 'to forget you'.
- me quieres ver you want to see me
- «Querer» + infinitive means 'to want to do something'. The object pronoun «me» can be placed before the conjugated verb («me quieres ver») or attached to the infinitive («quieres verme») — both are correct in Spanish.
- me llamas you call me
- «Llamar» + indirect object pronoun means 'to call someone'. The pronoun «me» precedes the verb. Note that «llamarse» (reflexive) means 'to be called/named', a completely different meaning from plain «llamar».
- piensas en volver you are thinking about coming back
- «Pensar en» + infinitive means 'to think about doing something'. The verb «pensar» requires the preposition «en» when followed by an action, whereas English uses 'about'. This is a key verb + preposition pairing to memorize.
- has cambiado you have changed
- The present perfect tense in Spanish is formed with the present tense of «haber» + past participle. It is used to describe past actions with relevance to the present, similar to English 'you have changed'.
- Aléjate de mí Stay away from me
- «Alejarse de» is a reflexive verb + preposition construction meaning 'to move away from / to distance oneself from'. The imperative «aléjate» has the reflexive clitic «-te» attached. Plain «alejar» (non-reflexive) means 'to move something away'.
- No hay nada más que hablar There is nothing more to talk about
- «Hay» is the impersonal form of «haber» meaning 'there is / there are'. «Nada más que» + infinitive means 'nothing more to do'. This is a fixed pattern: «no hay nada que + infinitive» = 'there is nothing to...'.
- tengo con quién ganar I have someone to win with
- This is an elliptical construction: «tengo con quién ganar» literally means 'I have with whom to win', implying 'I have someone with whom I can succeed'. «Con quién» (with whom) is a preposition + relative pronoun pair used in indirect questions and relative clauses.
- lo que yo te di what I gave you
- «Lo que» = 'what / that which', introducing a noun clause as the object of «diera». «Te di» uses two object pronouns: «te» (indirect, 'to you') and the implied direct object. «Di» is the irregular preterite of «dar» (1st person singular).
- no hubo nadie que te diera there was no one who gave you
- «Hubo» is the preterite of impersonal «haber» ('there was'). «Nadie que» + subjunctive is a fixed pattern: when the antecedent is negative or indefinite ('no one who...'), Spanish requires the subjunctive in the relative clause. Hence «diera» (imperfect subjunctive) rather than «dio».
- te ha cuidado has taken care of you
- «Cuidar a alguien» means 'to take care of someone'. In the present perfect, it becomes «ha cuidado». The object pronoun «te» precedes the auxiliary «ha». Note that «cuidado» also exists as a noun/interjection meaning 'care' or 'watch out!'.
- Por eso That's why / For that reason
- «Por eso» is a fixed phrase meaning 'that's why' or 'for that reason'. It combines «por» (expressing cause) with the neuter demonstrative «eso» (that). It is one of the most common connectors in spoken and written Spanish.
- ha pasado el tiempo time has passed
- «Pasar» in the present perfect with «el tiempo» as subject means 'time has passed'. «Pasar» is a versatile verb meaning 'to pass / to happen / to spend (time)' — context determines which meaning applies.
- yo también cambié I changed too
- «También» means 'also / too' and is placed after the subject or before the verb in Spanish. The preterite «cambié» signals a completed change in the past. The explicit subject pronoun «yo» is used here for emphasis, as Spanish normally drops it.
Vocabulary to learn from “Ahora te puedes marchar”
The words the song uses most.
- haber had (you) verb ·12
- saber you knew / you managed verb ·9
- amar loved verb ·7
- poder you can verb ·5
- marchar to leave / to go verb ·5
- dar gave / would give verb ·4
- cuidar taken care of / cared for verb ·4
- tener having verb ·3
- cambiar changed verb ·3
- llamar I called verb ·2
- alejarse move away / stay away verb ·2
- hablar to talk / to speak verb ·2
Verbs in the song, and the form being sung
Present tense for each; the highlighted row is the one you'll hear.
haber had (you)
| yo | he |
|---|---|
| tú | has |
| él / ella / usted | ha / hay |
| nosotros | hemos |
| vosotros | habéis |
| ellos / ustedes | han |
saber you knew / you managed
| yo | sé |
|---|---|
| tú | sabes |
| él / ella / usted | sabe |
| nosotros | sabemos |
| vosotros | sabéis |
| ellos / ustedes | saben |
amar loved
| yo | amo |
|---|---|
| tú | amas |
| él / ella / usted | ama |
| nosotros | amamos |
| vosotros | amáis |
| ellos / ustedes | aman |
poder you can
| yo | puedo |
|---|---|
| tú | puedes |
| él / ella / usted | puede |
| nosotros | podemos |
| vosotros | podéis |
| ellos / ustedes | pueden |
marchar to leave / to go
| yo | marcho |
|---|---|
| tú | marchas |
| él / ella / usted | marcha |
| nosotros | marchamos |
| vosotros | marcháis |
| ellos / ustedes | marchan |
Grammar you'll meet in this song
- Present24
- Preterite18
- Imperative2
- Conditional1
