Dicho español · Spanish proverb
«A caballo regalado no le mires el diente.»
Word for word
Do not look at the teeth of a gift horse.
What it really means
The closest English equivalent: Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
A reminder not to inspect or criticize something you got for free — horse buyers used to check teeth for age.
Also said as
- A caballo regalado no se le mira el diente.
- A caballo regalado no le mires el colmillo.
Hear it in a sentence
El abrigo que me regalaron no es de mi color favorito, pero a caballo regalado no le mires el diente.
The coat they gave me isn’t my favorite color, but don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
More Spanish sayings
- El hábito no hace al monje. — Clothes don’t make the man.
- En boca cerrada no entran moscas. — Silence is golden — flies don’t enter a closed mouth.
- Las apariencias engañan. — Appearances can be deceiving.
- Quien no trabaja, no come. — He who doesn't work, doesn't eat.
- Arrieros somos y en el camino nos encontraremos. — We'll meet again down the road.
Why learn dichos?
Proverbs like this one are everywhere in spoken Spanish — dropped mid-conversation, usually just the first half, with the rest left for you to complete. Recognizing them is one of the fastest ways to sound less like a textbook and follow real speech. Every Lingocito edition signs off with the dicho del día, so you meet one a day next to news written at your level.