Dicho español · Spanish proverb
«Cuando el río suena, piedras trae.»
Word for word
When the river makes noise, it brings stones.
What it really means
The closest English equivalent: Where there's smoke, there's fire.
Used when rumors or signs suggest something is really happening. Very common in gossip and news contexts.
Hear it in a sentence
Cuando el río suena, piedras trae; si todos lo dicen, algo habrá de cierto.
Where there's smoke, there's fire; if everyone says it, there must be some truth to it.
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 exact level.