Song guide

Con la Misma Piedra

Julio Iglesias

Con la Misma Piedra by Julio Iglesias, line by line: what the lyrics mean, 21 expressions explained and 261 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.

1. Te miré de pronto y te empecé a querer

   I suddenly looked at you and began to love you

   The opening line establishes the song's central theme of love at first sight leading to regret — a classic trope in Latin popular music (canción romántica).

2. Sin imaginarme que podría perder

   Without imagining that I could lose

3. No medí mis pasos y caí en tus brazos

   I didn't watch my steps and fell into your arms

4. Tu cara de niña me hizo enloquecer

   Your girlish face drove me crazy

   'Cara de niña' (girlish face) is a common romantic compliment in Spanish-language song and poetry, evoking innocence and youth as qualities that captivate the singer.

5. Pero fui en tu vida una diversión

   But I was just an amusement in your life

6. Tan solo un juguete de tu colección

   Just a toy in your collection

7. Me embrujaste al verte y tus ojos verdes

   You bewitched me when I saw you and your green eyes

   'Ojos verdes' (green eyes) is a celebrated motif in Spanish popular music — most famously the 1936 copla 'Ojos Verdes' by Rafael de León. Green eyes are considered rare and bewitching in Hispanic culture, making them a powerful romantic symbol.

8. Le pusieron trampas a mi corazón

   Set traps for my heart

9. Tropecé de nuevo y con la misma piedra

   I stumbled again on the same stone

   The image of 'tropezar con la misma piedra' (stumbling on the same stone) is a proverbial expression in Spanish culture, equivalent to the English proverb 'fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.' It is the central metaphor of the entire song.

10. En cuestión de amores nunca he de ganar

    In matters of love I can never win

11. Porque es bien sabido que el que amor entrega

    Because it is well known that whoever gives love

    The philosophical observation that 'whoever gives love must cry' reflects a fatalistic view of romance common in the bolero and ranchera traditions, where love and suffering are seen as inseparable.

12. De cualquier manera tiene que llorar

    Has to cry one way or another

13. Tropecé de nuevo y con la misma piedra

    I stumbled again on the same stone

14. En cuestión de amores nunca aprenderé

    In matters of love I will never learn

15. Yo que había jurado no jugar con ella

    I, who had sworn not to play with her

    The line 'Yo que había jurado no jugar con ella' introduces an ironic twist: the singer, who had promised not to toy with this woman's feelings, ends up being the one who gets hurt — reversing the expected power dynamic.

16. Tropecé de nuevo y con el mismo pie

    Stumbled again with the same foot

    'Con el mismo pie' (with the same foot) is a humorous and self-deprecating extension of the stumbling metaphor, suggesting the singer is so set in his ways that he literally uses the same foot to trip himself up every time.

17. Pero fui en tu vida una diversión

    But I was just an amusement in your life

18. Tan solo un juguete de tu colección

    Just a toy in your collection

19. Me embrujaste al verte y tus ojos verdes

    You bewitched me when I saw you and your green eyes

20. Le pusieron trampas a mi corazón

    Set traps for my heart

21. Tropecé de nuevo y con la misma piedra

    I stumbled again on the same stone

22. En cuestión de amores nunca he de ganar

    In matters of love I can never win

23. Porque es bien sabido que el que amor entrega

    Because it is well known that whoever gives love

24. De cualquier manera tiene que llorar

    Has to cry one way or another

25. Tropecé de nuevo y con la misma piedra

    I stumbled again on the same stone

26. En cuestión de amores nunca aprenderé

    In matters of love I will never learn

27. Yo que había jurado no jugar con ella

    I, who had sworn not to play with her

28. Tropecé de nuevo y con el mismo pie

    Stumbled again with the same foot

29. Tropecé de nuevo y con la misma piedra

    I stumbled again on the same stone

30. En cuestión de amores nunca he de ganar

    In matters of love I can never win

31. Porque es bien sabido que el que amor entrega

    Because it is well known that whoever gives love

32. De cualquier manera tiene que llorar

    Has to cry one way or another

33. Tropecé de nuevo y con la misma piedra

    I stumbled again on the same stone

34. En cuestión de amores nunca aprenderé

    In matters of love I will never learn

35. Yo que había jurado no jugar con ella

    I, who had sworn not to play with her

Expressions and idioms in “Con la Misma Piedra”

The lines that don't mean what the dictionary says.

de pronto suddenly

de pronto is a fixed adverbial phrase meaning 'suddenly' or 'all at once'; it cannot be deduced word-for-word since 'de' (of/from) + 'pronto' (soon) do not literally mean 'suddenly'

te empecé a querer I began to love you

empezar a + infinitive is a periphrastic construction meaning 'to begin to do something'; the verb empezar always requires the preposition 'a' before the following infinitive, unlike English 'begin to'

sin imaginarme without imagining

sin + infinitive means 'without doing something'; the reflexive clitic 'me' attached to imaginar here emphasises the speaker's own mental process — imaginarme = to imagine (for myself)

caí en tus brazos I fell into your arms

caer en + noun uses the preposition 'en' where English uses 'into'; caer en brazos de alguien is a set romantic expression for falling helplessly into someone's embrace

no medí mis pasos I didn't watch my steps

medir los pasos is an idiomatic expression meaning 'to be careful / to watch one's step'; literally 'to measure one's steps', but used figuratively to mean acting with caution

me hizo enloquecer drove me crazy

hacer + infinitive is a causative construction meaning 'to make someone do something'; 'me hizo enloquecer' literally means 'made me go crazy', equivalent to English 'drove me crazy'

cara de niña girlish face / face of a girl

the construction noun + de + noun is used in Spanish to describe a characteristic quality; 'cara de niña' means a face that looks like a girl's, equivalent to the English adjective 'girlish'

me embrujaste you bewitched me

embrujar is a transitive verb meaning 'to bewitch / to cast a spell on'; the clitic 'me' is the direct object, so 'me embrujaste' = 'you bewitched me'. The verb comes from 'bruja' (witch)

al verte upon seeing you / when I saw you

al + infinitive is a very common Spanish construction expressing 'upon doing something' or 'when something happened'; 'al verte' = 'upon seeing you'. The clitic 'te' is attached to the infinitive as its direct object

le pusieron trampas a mi corazón set traps for my heart

poner trampas is an idiomatic expression meaning 'to set traps'; the indirect object pronoun 'le' refers to 'mi corazón' (my heart), and the preposition 'a' introduces that indirect object — a standard Spanish double-marking of indirect objects

tropezar con la misma piedra to stumble on the same stone

tropezar con la misma piedra is a well-known Spanish idiom meaning 'to make the same mistake twice'; it is equivalent to the English expression 'to trip over the same stone' used figuratively for repeating an error

de nuevo again

de nuevo is a fixed adverbial phrase meaning 'again / once more'; it is not the same as 'nuevo' (new) used alone — the phrase functions as a single adverb of repetition

en cuestión de in matters of / when it comes to

en cuestión de is a fixed prepositional phrase meaning 'in the matter of' or 'when it comes to'; it introduces a topic or domain, similar to English 'in terms of'

nunca he de ganar I can never win

haber de + infinitive is a periphrastic construction expressing mild obligation or inevitability, similar to 'to be to do something'; here with 'nunca' it conveys 'I am never to win' — a fatalistic sense that winning is simply not in the cards

es bien sabido it is well known

es bien sabido is a fixed impersonal expression meaning 'it is well known'; 'bien' here intensifies the past participle 'sabido', and the construction uses ser (not estar) because it describes a permanent, general truth

el que amor entrega whoever gives love / the one who gives love

el que + verb is a relative construction meaning 'the one who' or 'whoever'; note that 'amor' appears before its verb 'entrega' — a poetic inversion (hyperbaton) for emphasis and rhyme, where normal word order would be 'el que entrega amor'

de cualquier manera one way or another / in any case

de cualquier manera is a fixed adverbial phrase meaning 'in any case / no matter what / one way or another'; it expresses inevitability regardless of circumstances

tiene que llorar has to cry

tener que + infinitive is the most common Spanish construction for expressing obligation or necessity, equivalent to English 'have to / must'; it is conjugated through tener while the main action stays as an infinitive

jugar con ella to play with her / to toy with her

jugar con alguien can mean both 'to play with someone' literally and 'to toy with someone / to play games with someone' figuratively; here the figurative sense is intended — the speaker had sworn not to emotionally manipulate her

había jurado had sworn

había + past participle forms the pluperfect (past perfect) tense in Spanish, expressing an action completed before another past event; 'había jurado' = 'had sworn', using the imperfect of haber as the auxiliary

con el mismo pie with the same foot

this phrase extends the stumbling metaphor from 'la misma piedra'; in Spanish idiom, tropezar con el mismo pie reinforces the idea of repeating the exact same blunder, as if one never learns to lift the foot that keeps catching

Vocabulary to learn from “Con la Misma Piedra”

The words the song uses most.

• el amor loves / love affairs noun ·9
• tu your adjective ·8
• tropezar I stumbled verb ·8
• nuevo again / new adverb ·8
• mismo same adjective ·8
• la piedra stone / rock noun ·6
• la cuestión matter / question noun ·6
• nunca never adverb ·6
• haber I have verb ·6
• ser I was / I went verb ·5
• mi my adjective ·3
• ganar to win / to earn verb ·3

Verbs in the song, and the form being sung

Present tense for each; the highlighted row is the one you'll hear.

Grammar you'll meet in this song

• Preterite19
• Present12
• Future3
• Imperfect3
• Conditional1

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