Costa Rican Spanish_________________________________________________

Many Costa Rican speakers do not roll their tongue when prouncing the letter "r" as is done in other Spanish speaking countries but instead pronounce it as a consonant as is done in English speaking countries. Costa Ricans also got their nickname, Ticos, because they have a cultural tendency to add the diminutive expression "ito" to end of Spanish words. One example is that Costa Ricans might say "pequenito" instead of "pequeno." Costa Ricans are familiar with the pronoun "tu" but rarely use it. They tend to utilize "usted" for formal relationships and "vos" for more family and friendly relationships.

Pura vida literally means Pura= pure and vida = life, but "Pure life" in Spanish would be "Vida pura" instead, so the real meaning is closer to "full of life", "this is living!", "going great" or "cool!" It can be used both as a greeting and a farewell, to express satisfaction, or to say "thank you" or "you're welcome." The phrase is universally recognized in Costa Rica and has been used since 1956.

Here are a few of the common
expressions used in Costa Rica: