Hacer pie

[natty]

What does it mean? I found something like "he can reach the ground with his legs/feet" but this looks and sounds stupid...

[poli]

We need more context. Hacer pie sounds like Spanish from the United States meaning to make pie (¿como se hace pie de manzana?). It may have other meanings in badly spoken Spanish like making use of the feet(vámonos) or some kind of exercise.

[natty]

This is the problem, that our teacher just gave a paper with these expressions like "hacer pie", "no dar pie con bola", "al pie de la letra" etc. and we have to translate into Hungarian, and then tell it in Spanish what does it mean. :/

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Hacer pie -> quedarse en un lugar
No dar pie con bola -> no acertar en nada
Al pie de la letra -> hacer algo exactamente como se nos ha indicado

[ROBINDESBOIS]

hacer pie, we use this expression when we go in the water and the water is not deep enogh and we are able to touch the button with our feet. that´s the meaning of hacer pie, in Spain the only one. and it doesn´t sount stupid at all.

Puedes hacer pie? Are u able to touch the button?

[aleCcowaN]

Exactly as ROBINDEBOIS says:

"hacer pie" = in any body of water, large or small, natural or artificial -like swimming pools- that verbal phrase means that you are able to touch the bottom in a way you can be standing up with your head out or way out of the water. It's just a measure of depth and it doesn't imply you necessary can keep yourself standing. For instance, about a ford: "El vado es poco profundo; haces pie en todas partes. Pero el agua es tan correntosa/torrentosa que te tumba"

Don't mix it up with "hacer de pie" .

[chileno]

Estoy de acuerdo con Robin y Alec

[natty]

Guys, thank you very much! You helped me a lot! Have a nice day!

[JPablo]

That's right.
Oxford gives these examples:
hacer pie = to be able to touch the bottom;
yo aquí no hago pie = I can’t touch the bottom here, I’m out of my depth here

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

If you have a Mexican teacher, don't ignore the use of "hacer pie" as to stay somewhere, since this is very widely used around here.

· Desde que tiene coche Juan ya no hace pie en su casa. -> Juan casi nunca está en su casa.
· Yo viajo mucho y rara vez hago pie en México. -> Normalmente no estoy en México mucho tiempo.
· Por fin empiezas a ser responsable y a hacer pie en tu trabajo. -> Antes no ibas a trabajar con tanta frecuencia como ahora.