facilitar
verbCEFR B2
What does “facilitar” mean in English?
to facilitate, to make easier
to facilitate, to make easier (also: to provide/supply; facilitar el acceso a + beneficiary — policy and professional)
Example sentences
La plataforma digital facilita el intercambio de información entre los diferentes departamentos de la organización.
The digital platform facilitates the exchange of information between the organisation's different departments.
El programa de becas facilita el acceso a la educación superior a jóvenes de entornos desfavorecidos.
The scholarship programme facilitates access to higher education for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Si facilitamos los trámites administrativos, reduciremos las barreras que frenan la inversión empresarial.
If we facilitate administrative procedures, we will reduce the barriers that hinder business investment.
How to use it
Facilitar means 'to facilitate' or 'to make easier'. At B2 it is a formal policy and professional verb: facilitar el acceso, facilitar la comunicación, facilitar los trámites. It takes a direct object (the thing being made easier) and often an indirect object or a-phrase (for whom). Key construction: facilitar + noun + a + person. Don't confuse with posibilitar (to make possible — implies something was previously impossible) — facilitar implies something already possible is made easier or smoother.
Common mistake
Facilitar ≠ posibilitar. Facilitar makes something easier; posibilitar makes something possible. Facilitar also means 'to provide / supply' in certain contexts: facilitarle los datos a alguien = to provide someone with the data. This secondary sense is common in professional Spanish and worth noting at B2.