relatar
verbCEFR B2
What does “relatar” mean in English?
to recount, to relate
to recount, to relate (relatar un episodio / relatar los hechos — formal written narrative register)
Example sentences
El supervisor relató con precisión los hechos ocurridos durante la noche del incidente.
The supervisor recounted with precision the events that occurred during the night of the incident.
En sus memorias, el antiguo diplomático relata situaciones que nunca antes había revelado en público.
In his memoirs, the former diplomat recounts situations he had never previously revealed in public.
El niño relató lo que había visto de forma desordenada, mezclando los eventos sin seguir ningún orden cronológico.
The child recounted what he had seen in a jumbled way, mixing up events without any chronological order.
How to use it
Relatar means 'to recount' or 'to relate' — a formal, written-register verb for narrating events in detail. It is more elevated than contar and implies systematic, organised account-giving (journalistic, legal, literary). Patterns: relatar los hechos, relatar un episodio, relatar lo ocurrido, relatar en detalle. The noun el relato (account, story) is closely linked. Contrast with narrar (to narrate — more literary) and contar (to tell — neutral/conversational).
Common mistake
Register trap: relatar sounds overly formal in casual conversation — use contar among friends. Also: relatar ≠ narrar in literary register: relatar implies factual account-giving (what happened), while narrar implies narrative construction (how the story is told, perspective, technique). In journalism and legal contexts, relatar is the default.