Fíjese que...

There are quite a few sayings and words in Spanish that I enjoy, but by far my favorite (to use but not to hear) is fíjese que. Fíjese is the formal usted command form of the reflexive verb fijarse. Fijarse means “to take notice” or “to pay attention.” While the verb when used as a command basically has one meaning—“Hey, pay attention to this”—it is used in two distinct ways: one that is both irking and amusing at the same time which is frequently employed by Guatemalans and the other that more closely holds to the word’s literal meaning which I love to drop when I mean business.

Guatemalans most often use fíjese que to preface that they are going to say something you don’t want to hear. It is almost always accompanied by a forced expression of helplessness and sympathy. I quickly learned to brace myself for bad news at the initial “f” and flash a knowing smile. If I had a dime for every time I have heard fíjese que, I would have no need for my Peace Corps living allowance. Below are just a few examples of times that I have been “fíjese qued” by Guatemalans:

“Fíjese que the money that was stolen from your account can’t be reimbursed.”

“Fíjese que the buses aren’t running tomorrow and there is no way for you to get to Guate to meet your parents at the airport.”

“Fíjese que the distributor hasn’t come and we are all out of Coke Light.”

“Fíjese que we don’t have your reservation and all of our rooms are full tonight.”

“Fíjese que the replacement parts for the Land Rover are going to cost 9800 Quetzales.”


In complete contrast, I like to use fíjese que to drive home a point. While not always rooted in anger (but sometimes yes), I deliver it with my “I’m not joking around” tone and expression. It does wonders for getting people’s attention. Here are some of my uses of fíjese que:

“Fíjese que I am not going to wait for you in the park at 4:00 a.m., because you are always late. You can pick me up at my house.”

“Fíjese que I live in Guatemala and I know what the price of a taxi ride should be from here to Zona 1.”

“Fíjese que I waited for you for over an hour so I eventually left.”

“Fíjese que if this is the way you treat clients, then don’t expect any more business from us.”


Sometimes when I am very resolute on obtaining what I asked for, the only way to combat a fíjese que is to give one back. This starts a sort of “battle of the fíjese ques,” with the unspoken underlying tone of the conversation being, “I’m sorry but…/Well, I don’t care because…” I have yet to lose a fíjese que war, but I only engage myself in them in extreme circumstances. A case in point was when my parents and brother came to visit and we wanted to ship the extra suitcases they had brought for me to Tactic before we caught a flight to Flores. Here is the conversation I had with the employee at Monja Blanca:

Him: “Fíjese que we aren’t accepting packages to send because it is Easter weekend.”

Me: “Fíjese que we are flying to Flores in a couple of hours and we aren’t taking these suitcases with us.”

Him: “Fíjese que the suitcases would have to sit in the office over the weekend, and we can’t be responsible if anything is stolen.”

Me: “Fíjese que both of these suitcases are locked and secure.”

Him: “Fíjese que the suitcases wouldn’t be sent until Monday.”

Me: “Fíjese que I am not going to be back in Tactic until Monday anyway.”

The suitcases were waiting for me when I arrived in Tactic that Monday. In Guatemala a little fíjese que can go a long way.