what is mija in english?

In Mexican Spanish, mijo is a slang word that people use to refer to their sons. It can also be used informally as a synonym for ‘boy’ or an affectionate way of referring to a friend. Mija is its feminine form and is only applied when referring to girls, daughters or young women.

Both mijo and mija are very popular words in Mexican Spanish. Since you can use them even if you don’t have kids, in the following sections, I’ll explain and show you how to apply these words into your conversations.

In Spanish, ‘mijo’ and its feminine form ‘mija’ are informal words that people use to call their children and other kids. It can also be used as an affectionate way to refer to a friend or your significant other. Depending on the context, ‘mijo’ and ‘mija’ might have different translations:

As slang terms, ‘mijo’ and ‘mija’ are only used in informal or casual situations. Additionally, these words are popular in Mexican Spanish, but they can also be applied in other Latin American Countries.

In Spanish, mijo is a contraction of ‘mi hijo’ while mija is the short version of ‘mi hija’. As a result, one of the most common uses of these words is as an affectionate and casual way to call your kids in Spanish.

Since their direct translations ‘son’ and ‘daughter’ might sound too formal in English, ‘mijo’ and ‘mija’ are also close in meaning to ‘boy’, ‘girl’, ‘honey’ or ‘sweetheart’. Keep in mind that, in this context, these words are only used to directly call or name your kids.

Notice that, depending on the situation, you may need to use its feminine, masculine or plural forms.

[Mijo / Mija] + [complement]

Quiubo, mijo, ¿cómo te fue en la escuela?How is it going, son? How was school?

Mijas, córranle. Nos vamos en 5 minutos. Girls, hurry. We’re leaving in 5 minutes.

Feliz cumpleaños, mija, te amo. Happy birthday, daughter, I love you.

A ver, mijitos, aquí se hace lo que yo digo. Okay, kids, here you do as I say.

In this context, you can also use the diminutive form mijito and mijita. These variations are a bit more affectionate, but with the right tone of voice they can also be used to scold your kids. When I was a young girl and I heard mijita, I knew I was in big trouble.

Since they can be translated as ‘kid’ ‘kiddo’, ‘boy’ or ‘girl’, in Spanish, mijo and mija can also be used to call any kid that is not yours. To put it in simple words, these terms can be used when referring to other children in your family or to kids whose names you don’t even know.

[Mijo / Mija] + [complement]

Oye, mija, ¿estás bien?Hey, girl, are you okay?

Mijos, díganle a su abue que la comida ya está. Kids, go to tell your granny that the food is ready.

De nada, mijo, me voy a esperar hasta que llegue tu mami. You’re welcome, kiddo, I’ll wait until your mom arrives.

With this meaning, ‘mijo’ and ‘mija’ are also used as an affectionate way to call a person that is significantly younger than you. In this case, they can be translated as ‘honey’ or ‘dear’.

Buenos días, mija, ¿qué vas a llevar?Good morning, dear, what do you need?

Mijito, ¿me puedes ayudar con estas bolsas?Honey, can you help me with these bags?

Since ‘mijo’ and ‘mija’ are affectionate terms, Mexican speakers also use these words as nicknames or cute ways to call either their friends or their significant other. So, if referring to your friends, these words are close in meaning to ‘dude, ‘buddy’ or ‘pal’.

But, as a nickname for couples, ‘mijo’ and ‘mija’ can be translated as ‘honey’, ‘sweetheart’ or ‘babe’. Just like any other nickname, using these words with their significant other depends on each person’s preference.

[Mijo / Mija] + [complement]

Oye, mija, ¿cómo sigue tu mamá?Hey, sweetheart, how is your mom doing?

No, mijo, Carlos se va la semana que viene. No, dude, Carlos leaves next week.

Mijo, ¿a qué hora llegas hoy?Honey, what time do you arrive today?

In Spanish, ‘mijo’ and ‘mija’ have a fricative sound due to the ‘j’ pronunciation in Spanish. In other words, the ‘j’ in these terms has a similar pronunciation to the English hard h. So, in this case, ‘mijo’ and ‘mija’ are pronounced exactly the same as you would pronounce ‘hold’, ‘home’, ‘ham’ or ‘hard’.

Here are other words that you can use to replace ‘mijo’ and ‘mija’ in different contexts.

Hijo is the direct translation of ‘son’. As a result, you can use this word instead of ‘mijo’ when calling your son.

Hija means ‘daughter’. Parents can use this word in more formal contexts as a way to call or refer to their daughters.

Wey is a Mexican slang word that means ‘dude’, ‘buddy’ or ‘pal’. So this word can be used to call or refer to your friends.

Niño is the direct translation of ‘boy’ or ‘kid’. In Spanish, we use this standard term as a way to call, name or refer to a kid that we don’t know. Its feminine form is niña.

According to Dictionary.com, the Spanish word mija is a friendly and informal term used by Spanish speakers and writers as a colloquial term of endearment for friends and romantic partners. It can also be used by an older person to address someone younger than them, including female pets and children. This word is considered a term of affection, but if it is used by male peers to refer to their female friends or colleagues, some may find it belittling. In that context, it would be the English equivalent of calling a coworker, “little miss” or “missy.” This term is pronounced “mee-ha.”

According to Spanish Dict, in the Spanish language the term mija translates to dear, darling, or sweetie. Urban Dictionary and iTalki state that the word mija is a portmanteau of two other Spanish words: “mi hija.” In Spanish, “mi” means “my” and “hija” means “daughter.” Therefore, the word directly translates to a slang version of “my daughter.” It can be used as an informal way to refer to a younger woman, as well as a term of endearment among friends. There is also one variation, mijita, which translates to “my little daughter.” Here, the suffix -ita is added onto the end of the word “mija.” According to Spanish Dict, in Spanish, the suffixes -ito and -ita can either form diminutives or create terms of endearment, like “gatito” would be either a term of endearment for a cat or “gato” or it could be used to refer to a kitten.

While the term mija is reserved exclusively for use with regard to women and girls, there is also a masculine form of the word. When referring to men or boys with a term of endearment, one can use “mijo.” This word was formed in the same way as mija, but as a portmanteau of the words “mi hijo” – “mi” meaning “my” and “hijo” meaning “son.” This is used very similarly to the word “mija” as an affectionate was to refer to men and boys, like dear, honey, sweetie, or buddy when used between friends. This term is pronounced “mee-ho” and can take on the same variation as mija and mijita. In this case, mijo would turn into mijito because it is a masculine word.

There are many different Spanish terms of endearment one can use to refer to someone who is younger than them. Some of these terms used to refer to children are used in different countries – a Mexican person might use a different term than a Venezuelan person in the same way that an American English speaker has different colloquialisms than a British or Australian English speaker. A list of these different terms for children is below, provided by Spanish Dict.

There are also a plethora of different terms of endearment that one can use to refer to people of any age or demographic, not specifically reserved for use with children. Fluent in Three Months lists many of these!

The Spanish word mija can be used in many different contexts as a term of endearment for a woman or girl, often one who is younger than the speaker. In the below example, the term mija will be used by an aunt who is speaking to her niece. Here, Maya is talking to her aunt Daniela at a family reunion.

Maya: ¡Hola tía! ¡Te he extrañado mucho!

(English – Maya: Hi auntie! I’ve missed you so much!)

Daniela: ¡Hola mija! Yo también te he extrañado. ¡Mira lo alto que eres!

(English – Daniela: Hi mija! I’ve missed you too. Look how tall you are!)

Maya: Ha pasado tanto tiempo. Pero voy a ir a la universidad cerca de ti, así que espero que podamos vernos más.

(English – Maya: It’s been so long. But I am going to be going to college near you so hopefully we will be able to see each other more.)

Daniela: ¡Por supuesto! Será mejor que vengas todos los fines de semana y me cuentes todos los chismes. Guau. No puedo creer que mi pequeña vaya a la universidad. ¡Recuerdo cuando naciste!

(English – Daniela: Absolutely! You had better come over every weekend and tell me about all the gossip. Wow. I cannot believe my little girl is going to college. I remember when you were born!)

Overall, the Spanish word mija directly translates to “my daughter” and is used as a term of endearment to refer to friends, romantic partners, or children. Mija is an informal term and is most often used by an older person to refer to someone younger than the, Spanish speakers use this term often in many different countries throughout Latin America.

Today, I’ll continue with my series on Colombian slang, where I explain popular Colombian Spanish words that are used daily by natives.

Learning slang words will help you sound more natural and therefore can make you more confident when speaking with natives.

Having said that you must learn what slang means and how to use it to avoid embarrassing yourself in certain situations.

Learning slang is an important part of your Spanish learning journey and I’m happy to help. The word of today is “mija”, so let’s get into it!

The Spanish word “mija” is a colloquial contraction of the words “mi hija” (my daughter) and it also exists in masculine form, in which case is the contraction of “mi hijo” (my son).

It has always been used among family members and friends especially in Colombia, but it’s not always used to refer to one’s children.

“Mija” or “mijo” is a friendly and informal term of endearment among close friends and even romantic partners.

Of course, it’s also used by older people to refer to younger people, whether they’re related or not. In that context, it’s still something nice and the equivalent in English would be “sweetie”, “dear” or “darling”.

Among friends and buddies, “mija” is a term of affection, so you use it to refer to people you are close with.

Sometimes, “mija” can be used as a way for men to belittle women, but it depends on the context and how the word is said.

The English equivalent, in this case, would be similar to “missy” or “little miss.”

When learning Colombian Spanish the meaning of “mija” is quite simple, but here are a few examples to help you practice it and learn to use it in conversation whenever it’s appropriate!

Meaning in English: Sweetie, drink your tea before it gets cold

Colloquial usage: This is something a parent, grandparent, or family member would say to a child or someone very dear. After all, we are always children in the eyes of our family.

Meaning in English:“Dude, you ate my piece of cake.”

Colloquial usage: This is how “mija” can be used among friends. It doesn’t quite mean “sweetie” or “dear”, so the closest translation would be “dude” in this context.

Meaning in English:“Dear, can you tell me the time?”

Colloquial usage: This is an example of how older people use the word “mija” to address younger people, whether they know them or not. This is something an old lady can ask on the street or something grandma can ask at home.

Meaning in English:“Little miss, bring me a coffee.”

Colloquial usage: If this was said by a male to a female colleague and it’s not her job to bring coffee, “mija” would be considered belittling.

To summarize, the direct translation of “mija” is “my daughter” because it’s a contraction of “mi hija”.

It’s most commonly used as a term of endearment among friends and family, but it can take a negative connotation depending on the tone and context.

So, while learning Latin American Spanish this article should’ve given you some food for thought when it comes to learning slang words.

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If you have spent time on holiday in Spain, or have recently moved here, you have probably heard the Spanish using the words ‘mija‘ and ‘mijo‘ quite a lot.

If you are like me when I first got to Spain though, you probably don’t know what the two words mean.

So what does ‘mija’ mean in Spanish? And what does ‘mijo‘ mean? And when can you usually use them?

‘Mija‘ is actually a contraction of ‘mi hija‘ (my daughter) and ‘mijo‘ a contraction of ‘mi hijo‘ (my son). It is often used as a slang term, and as a form of affection.

That means you might hear a Spanish man might call his daughter ‘mija‘ and his son ‘mijo‘.

‘Mija‘ or ‘mijo‘ can also be used with anyone, even an adult, and means something similar to the English slang terms ‘honey‘ or ‘sweetie’. That’s why you will often hear the Spanish saying it to a friend, relative or someone else they like.

You will even sometimes here it when a Spaniard is addressing someone, but they cannot remember their name.

After all, it is a great way of being nice to someone without letting on you know you have met them several times before, but you have no idea what they are called.

So, the next time you hear someone saying ‘mija’ or ‘mijo‘ in Spain, you will know exactly what the words mean.

And yes, you can use them yourself. They just sound so incredibly cute!

More: What does ‘Guapa’ or ‘Guapo’ mean? And can you use it?