temblar
verbCEFR B2
What does “temblar” mean in English?
to tremble, to shake
to tremble, to shake (temblar — involuntary shaking from emotion, cold, or fear)
Example sentences
Su voz tembló al relatar los hechos que había presenciado durante los días más duros del conflicto.
His voice trembled as he recounted the events he had witnessed during the hardest days of the conflict.
El suelo tembló durante varios segundos y algunos objetos cayeron de las estanterías.
The ground shook for several seconds and some objects fell from the shelves.
Temblaba de frío después de pasar más de tres horas esperando a la intemperie.
He was trembling with cold after spending more than three hours waiting outside.
How to use it
Temblar means 'to tremble' or 'to shake'. It is intransitive. Stem change: tiemblo, tiemblas (present -ie- in stressed syllables). Common contexts: temblar de miedo/frío (tremble with fear/cold), temblar la voz (voice trembles), temblar el edificio (building shakes in an earthquake). Figurative: la economía tiembla (the economy is shaking). The imperfect temblaba and preterite tembló are both common in narrative.
Common mistake
Temblar (shake/tremble — involuntary) vs. vibrar (vibrate — regular mechanical oscillation) vs. estremecerse (shudder — often a sudden single shiver). The stem change gives tiemblo not *temblo. 'My legs are shaking' = me tiemblan las piernas — the legs are the subject, with the experiencer in dative.