To sneak

To sneak
 

It appears there are several ways of saying “he sneaks” or “to sneak.” But, as far as I can tell, there is no single Spanish word that is a perfect match for “to sneak.” (Perhaps I am wrong.) What is the most common way of saying, for example, “he is sneaking around the house,” or “she is very good at sneaking” ?
jedson

There doesn't seem to be a complete match. This is what the Oxford Spanish dictionary gives

sneak1 (past & past participlesneakedorAmerican English alsosnuck) transitive verb

1 (smuggle) (+ adverb complement): he sneaked it through customs lo pasó de contrabando (por la aduana); I sneaked the bottle into the room under my coat entré en la sala con la botella escondida bajo el abrigo; he sneaked the files out of the office sacó los archivos de la oficina a escondidas or a hurtadillas; she was caught trying to sneak him in without paying la pillaron tratando de colarlo sin pagar
2 (take furtively): we caught him sneaking a drink lo pillamos bebiendo a escondidas; to sneak a look at something/somebody mirar algo/a alguien con disimulo or subrepticiamente


sneak intransitive verb
A (go furtively) (+ adverb complement): to sneak in/out entrar/salir* a hurtadillas or con disimulo or (colloquial) de extranjis; to sneak away escabullirse*; he managed to sneak past the guard logró pasar sin que el guardia se diera cuenta
B (tell tales) (BrEcolloquial) acusar, ir* con cuentos (colloquial), chivarse (Spaincolloquial); to sneak on somebody acusar a alguien, chivarse de alguien (Spaincolloquial)

With the adj/adv furtivo y furtivamente, you can easily approximate English meanings. example: entró el edificio furtivamente/ he snuck into the building.

this helps
 

Perikles and Poli,
Muchas gracias por su ayuda. Both your responses were helpful. "A hurtadillas" would seem to be something like "on the sly." There does not seem to be a verb equivalent for "sneak," but for most purposes I could probably use a verb + "furtivo" o "furtivamente."
jedson

Very rarely will you find words that translate meaning for meaning from one language to another. :thinking:
One solution for this is to check both the bilingual dictionary and the Spanish one to make sure that you are using the correct word for what you mean.

cool site
 

This is a very cool site. Thanks for the help. Estoy seguro de que volveré muchas veses para más ayuda. ¿Cómo se dice en español, "a cool site"?

That depends on the Spanish speaking country. Cool varies from place to place, and what's considered cool does too. One way would be un sitio bien chévere.

Where translation is concerned, English and Spanish share Latin roots, and this can sometimes, :warning:though not always, help you translate. Almost every Anglo-Saxon word in English has a fancier and often multiple-syllabic latinate equivalent. In many cases, the latinate word matches a similar word in Spanish.

Una respuesta chévere -- gracias.