Dicho español · Spanish proverb

«La letra con sangre entra.»

Word for word

The letter with blood enters.

What it really means

The closest English equivalent: Learning requires effort and discipline.

Used to say that learning is hard and requires sacrifice and discipline. It can be said seriously or with a tone of resignation about difficult study.

Hear it in a sentence

Estudiar medicina es durísimo, pero la letra con sangre entra.

Studying medicine is extremely hard, but learning requires effort and discipline.

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.

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