Dicho español · Spanish proverb
«Cuando el río suena, agua lleva.»
Word for word
When the river makes noise, it carries water.
What it really means
The closest English equivalent: Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
Persistent rumors usually have some truth behind them.
Also said as
- Cuando el río suena, piedras trae.
Hear it in a sentence
Todos comentan que la empresa cerrará, y cuando el río suena, agua lleva.
Everyone says the company will close — and where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
More Spanish sayings
- Una mentira repetida mil veces se convierte en verdad. — A lie repeated a thousand times becomes truth.
- El que juega con fuego, se quema. — If you play with fire, you'll get burned.
- Más vale prevenir que curar. — Better safe than sorry.
- La mentira tiene patas cortas. — Lies have short legs.
- La verdad sale a flote. — The truth comes to the surface.
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.