asimilar
verbCEFR B1
What does “asimilar” mean in English?
to assimilate, to internalise
to assimilate, to internalise (knowledge or language so it becomes natural)
Example sentences
Para asimilar bien las preposiciones del español, no basta con aprenderlas de memoria; hay que verlas y usarlas en contextos comunicativos reales muchas veces.
To properly assimilate Spanish prepositions, it is not enough to learn them by heart; you have to see and use them in real communicative contexts many times.
Después de vivir un año en México, asimilé el español de una forma que nunca hubiera logrado estudiando solo con libros de texto.
After living a year in Mexico, I assimilated Spanish in a way I would never have managed studying only with textbooks.
Los niños asimilan las lenguas de forma inconsciente, mientras que los adultos suelen necesitar instrucción explícita para alcanzar niveles altos de fluidez.
Children assimilate languages unconsciously, whereas adults usually need explicit instruction to reach high levels of fluency.
How to use it
Asimilar means 'to assimilate' or 'to take in and make one's own' — it implies a deeper integration than merely memorising or grasping. In language learning, asimilar una lengua means internalising it so it becomes natural use rather than conscious recall. It is transitive: asimilar una estructura, asimilar el vocabulario. The key B1 point is the contrast between asimilar (deep integration over time) and memorizar (surface-level storage). Communicative and immersive approaches are often described as facilitating asimilar rather than memorizar.
Common mistake
Asimilar is transitive and does not take a reflexive pronoun at B1: 'asimilé el vocabulario', not '*me asimilé el vocabulario'. Also, don't use asimilar to mean assimilate people into a culture (assimilation of immigrants) — for that Spanish uses integrar or incorporar. Asimilar is restricted to knowledge/language in this context.