narrar
verbCEFR B2
What does “narrar” mean in English?
to narrate, to tell a story
to narrate, to tell a story (narrar en primera persona / narrar los acontecimientos)
Example sentences
La autora narra la historia en primera persona, lo que crea una intimidad entre el lector y el protagonista.
The author narrates the story in the first person, which creates an intimacy between the reader and the protagonist.
El documental narra los hechos de forma lineal, sin recurrir a flashbacks ni saltos temporales.
The documentary narrates the events in a linear fashion, without resorting to flashbacks or time jumps.
Es difícil narrar esos años con objetividad cuando uno estuvo tan directamente implicado en todo lo que ocurrió.
It is hard to narrate those years with objectivity when one was so directly involved in everything that happened.
How to use it
Narrar means 'to narrate' — to construct and tell a narrative, especially with attention to perspective, voice, and structure. It is the literary/technical term for storytelling. Patterns: narrar en primera persona, narrar en tercera persona, narrar los hechos (formal journalism), narrar una historia. The noun la narración and the adjective narrativo/a are closely related. Contrast: contar (tell — oral, neutral), relatar (recount — systematic account), narrar (narrate — literary/technical construction).
Common mistake
Narrar ≠ contar for literary analysis — in Spanish literature classes, narrar and la narración are the technical terms. Using contar in written literary analysis sounds informal. Also: el narrador (narrator) and narrar (to narrate) are core B2 literature vocabulary; learning these alongside the grammar atoms in this lane gives learners the vocabulary to discuss narrative structure.