Dicho español · Spanish proverb
«A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda.»
Word for word
God helps the one who rises early.
What it really means
The closest English equivalent: The early bird catches the worm.
Used to praise getting up or starting early — the Spanish way of saying effort put in ahead of everyone else gets rewarded.
Also said as
- Al que madruga, Dios lo ayuda.
Hear it in a sentence
Salí a las seis y encontré las mejores ofertas del mercado: a quien madruga, Dios le ayuda.
I left at six and found the best deals at the market — the early bird catches the worm.
More Spanish sayings
- Hombre precavido vale por dos. — A cautious man is worth two.
- Una de cal y otra de arena. — Give and take.
- El tiempo pone a cada uno en su lugar. — Time puts everyone in their place.
- Lo bueno, si breve, dos veces bueno. — Brevity is the soul of wit.
- En el país de los ciegos, el tuerto es rey. — In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
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.