Spice level
Fine with coworkers and new acquaintances.
Quick Answer
Clavarse means to get hooked on something, and separately to pocket something and keep it. Clavar is to nail something in, so clavarse is sinking into something or driving it into your own pocket. A bare direct object gives the pocketing sense; con, en or a gerund gives the absorption one.
- Clavarse algo means to pocket it and keep it - swipe rather than steal.
- Clavarse con algo, en algo, or plus a gerund means to get hooked on it: me clavé con la serie, se clavó en el tema, me clavé viendo la serie.
- The grammar tells you which. A bare direct object is the pocketing sense; con, en or a gerund is the absorption sense.
What it means
The first sense is taking something small and not giving it back. A charger, an umbrella, a lighter, the good pen from the office. Se lo clavó names the act without calling it theft, which is precisely why it exists.
The second sense is being unable to leave something alone. Me clavé con la serie, me clavé leyendo, se clavó con esa chava. It covers a series, a subject, a hobby and a person, and the flavour changes with each.
Applied to a person it swings. Anda bien clavado con ella is often said with a grin and means he is crazy about her. Said flatter, it means stuck - thinking about somebody more than is doing him any good. The word does not decide, the delivery does, and estar enamorado is the one that only ever means the happy version.
Literal meaning
Clavar is to nail something in, from clavo, a nail. Reflexive, it points the action back at the speaker, and that gives Mexican Spanish two useful pictures: something driven into your own pocket, and yourself driven into something you cannot get out of.
Un clavado is a dive, which is the same image again - going in headfirst and disappearing under. The obsession sense reads that way in practice, and clavarse leyendo is close to the English buried in a book.
Which of the two senses came first is not documented, so anybody explaining one from the other is guessing. What is reliable is the grammar that separates them.
The forms of clavarse you'll hear
- se clavó mi cargadorhe swiped my chargerDirect object, no preposition. This is always the pocketing sense.
- me clavé con la serieI got hooked on the showWith con. Always the absorption sense, and usually a small confession.
- anda bien clavado con ellahe's completely hung up on herThe romantic one, and the most common of all. Sympathy, not approval.
- no te clavesdon't get too caught up - or don't overthink itTwo uses. About a person, do not get stuck. About a comment or a work problem somebody is chewing over, it means let it go - and that one is at least as common.
- echarse un clavadoto take a diveThe literal one, still alive. Same picture the slang runs on.
How Mexicans use it
The stealing sense is almost always in the past and almost always about something small. ¿Quién se clavó mi cargador? is a normal thing to say out loud in a shared flat, and nobody involved thinks a crime has occurred.
The obsession sense lives in the present perfect and in chat. Me clavé con la serie, ya voy en la cuarta temporada - the sentence carries a small confession, which is why it usually comes with a laugh.
The romantic version is what you will hear most about other people, and it swings with the delivery - anda bien clavado is fond from one friend and a diagnosis from another. No te claves is the warning, and it is one of the most common uses of the whole verb. It also detaches from romance completely: said to somebody chewing over a comment or a work problem, it means stop turning it over.
There is also clavarse in the sense of going too deep into a subject - se clavó con la historia del edificio. Nothing negative in it; it means somebody went down the rabbit hole and enjoyed it.
Examples
- ¿Quién se clavó mi cargador?Who swiped my charger?
- Me clavé con la serie, ya voy en la cuarta temporada.I got hooked on the show, I'm already on season four.
- Anda bien clavado con ella, no habla de otra cosa.He's completely hung up on her, he doesn't talk about anything else.
- No te claves, apenas llevan dos semanas.Don't get too caught up, it's only been two weeks.
How clavarse looks in a group chat
- banda alguien se clavó mi cargador en la peda?guys, did somebody swipe my charger at the party?
- el blanco? lo trae el primo de Ana jajajathe white one? Ana's cousin has it hahaha
- no manches. es el tercero del añono way. that's the third one this year
- ya viste la serie?have you watched the show?
- me clavé, ya voy en la cuarta 🙈i got hooked, i'm on season four already
- jajaja no dormiste verdadhahaha you didn't sleep, did you
Mini dialogue
Common mistake
Missing the preposition, which is what separates the two meanings. Me clavé el libro is I pocketed the book. Me clavé con el libro is I could not put it down - and me clavé en el libro or me clavé leyendo do the same job. A bare object is the only shape that means taking.
Translating estar clavado as being in love. It is closer to hung up on, and it carries a flavour of being stuck rather than being happy. Telling somebody está clavado contigo is not the compliment a learner usually intends.
Don't sound gringo
two meanings, and the grammar tells you which. a bare object is pocketing it. add con, en or a gerund and it flips to getting absorbed.
Se clavó mi cargador is he pocketed it. Me clavé con la serie, se clavó en el tema, me clavé viendo la serie - all absorption. Watch for that and you never have to guess.
The romantic one is the most useful. Anda bien clavado con ella can be fond and grinning, or stuck and slightly pitiable, and only the delivery tells you which.
The reliably negative one is the warning: no te claves.
Where you'll hear it
- A phone charger that left a Roma house party in somebody else's jacket
- 2am on a Del Valle couch, three episodes past the one you meant to stop at
- A friend who has checked the same profile four times tonight and is pretending he hasn't
- One album on repeat for a week, and the group chat has started commenting
FAQ
What does clavarse mean in Mexican Spanish?
Two things. Clavarse algo is to pocket something and keep it. Clavarse con algo or con alguien is to get hooked on it. The preposition tells you which.
What does me clavé con la serie mean?
I got hooked on the show. The con is what makes it the obsession sense - without it, me clavé la serie would mean you took the box set.
What does estar clavado con alguien mean?
To be hung up on somebody. Not the same as being in love - it carries a hint of being stuck, and friends usually say it with sympathy rather than approval.
Is clavarse the same as stealing?
No, and that is the point of the word. Robar is theft. Clavarse is what happened to your umbrella - it names the act while refusing to make it a crime.
What does no te claves mean?
Two things. About a person, don't get too caught up. About a comment or a problem you keep turning over, it means let it go - and that use is at least as common.
What does clavadito a su papá mean?
He is the spitting image of his father. A separate sense of the same adjective, with nothing to do with obsession or with taking things, and you will hear it at every family gathering.
Is estar clavado con alguien a bad thing?
It depends on the delivery. Said with a grin it means crazy about her. Said flatter it means stuck, and thinking about somebody more than is good for him. Enamorado is the one that only means the happy version.
Where does clavarse come from?
From clavar, to nail something in, and clavo, a nail. Un clavado is a dive, which is the same picture - going in headfirst. Which sense came first is not documented.
What is un clavo saca otro clavo?
One nail drives out another - the Mexican proverb for getting over somebody by meeting somebody else. It is said about exactly the situation estar clavado describes.
Is clavarse a bad word?
Safe. The stealing sense is an accusation but a light one - it is what you say about a phone charger, not about a crime.
clavarse vs robar and clavado (the dive)
clavarsevsrobar
Robar is theft and it is serious. Clavarse is what happened to your umbrella. The word is doing the same work as the English swipe - it names the act and refuses to make it a crime.Page coming soonclavarsevsclavado (the dive)
Un clavado is a dive into water, and echarse un clavado is to take one. Same verb, and the picture - going in headfirst - is the one behind the obsession sense too.Page coming soonclavarsevsestar enamorado
Enamorado only means in love. Clavado covers that and also covers being stuck, which is why anda bien clavado can be said with a grin or with a wince. They are not swappable.Page coming soonclavarsevsclavadito a su papá
A separate sense of the same adjective: es clavadito a su papá means he is the spitting image of his father. Nothing to do with obsession or with taking things, and you will hear it at every family gathering.Page coming soonclavarsevsvolarse algo
The closest match for the pocketing sense - se volaron mi paraguas. Bajar does the same job: me bajaron el celular. For the absorption sense, engancharse is the near-twin: me enganché con la serie.Page coming soonclavarsevsclavo
Un clavo is a nail. Un clavo saca otro clavo is the proverb - one nail drives out another - and Mexicans say it about exactly the situation estar clavado describes.Page coming soon
Related words
Test yourself
Tap an answer.
Your friend says 'me clavé con ese libro.' What happened?
Somebody says 'anda bien clavado con ella.' What are they saying about him?
The one thing
clavarse is two verbs in one. a bare object means pocketing it; con, en or a gerund means getting hooked. and clavadito a su papá is a third sense - the spitting image.
Sources
- Dictionaryclavar, clavarseDiccionario de americanismos, Asociación de Academias de la Lengua EspañolaSeparates the three Mexican senses this page turns on - taking something that is not yours, throwing yourself into an activity, and becoming obsessed - as distinct numbered meanings.
- Dictionaryclavado, clavadaDiccionario de americanismos, Asociación de Academias de la Lengua EspañolaRecords clavado as the ordinary Mexican noun for a vertical dive, and separately as a person in love - the same headfirst image behind both.
- Dictionaryvolar, volarseDiccionario de americanismos, Asociación de Academias de la Lengua EspañolaConfirms volarse as the Mexican near-synonym for the pocketing sense, the swap in se volaron mi paraguas.
- InstitutionUn clavo saca otro clavoCentro Virtual Cervantes, Refranero multilingüeThe proverb the page quotes, glossed as applying to love affairs and specifically to somebody getting over a heartbreak.
- DictionaryclavarseDiccionario breve de mexicanismos, Academia Mexicana de la LenguaDerives clavarse from clavar, to drive something pointed in, and gives the two Mexican senses side by side: to dive, and to pocket.
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