Papeleo real: cómo sonar nativo en ventanilla
Argot administrativo que realmente se oye y cómo usarlo sin meter la pata.
Dannis
Elige la opción natural: En Extranjería no resolvieron nada; solo ____.
Correct: 0/8
Hints for this Quiz
Look for a fixed expression that means “dragging things out / stalling”.
In Spanish, dar largas means “to stall, to drag things out, to keep putting someone off”: Me dieron largas ≈ “they strung me along / delayed me without resolving anything”. It’s a very common colloquial expression in administrative contexts.
This word is about “paperwork and trámites”.
Papeleo is a colloquial word meaning “paperwork, a lot of forms and procedures”. In Spanish this is a very common way to talk about bureaucracy.
The phrase literally means “to be on a waiting list”.
Estar en lista de espera means “to be on a waiting list”, a typical situation for public services and healthcare in Spain.
In official letters they prefer a formal verb, not the more colloquial arreglar.
Subsanar is a formal verb meaning “to correct shortcomings/errors, to provide missing documents”. It’s what they normally write in notifications: «Tiene 10 días para subsanar».
This is the fixed expression «dar + plural feminine».
Think of the fixed expression with «dar».
The correct collocation is dar largas (a alguien). In the progressive form: «Nos están dando largas» (= they keep putting us off / stalling us).
In public offices you use usted and polite softening formulas.
In Spanish public administration, a polite usted-register and a calm tone are expected. The formula «Perdone, ¿me podría…?» sounds correct; «oye/tú» is too informal here.
Look for the formula with «requerimiento…» and a formal verb.
In notifications they often write «requerimiento para subsanar»—a request to correct/complete the submitted documents (the “subsanación” procedure).
It’s about them not answering the phone.
«No me/te cogen el teléfono» is a common complaint: “they don’t pick up the phone”. It’s one of the real colloquial expressions used to talk about bureaucracy.
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