Dicho español · Spanish proverb

«Más vale tarde que nunca.»

Word for word

Late is worth more than never.

What it really means

The closest English equivalent: Better late than never.

Used when something finally happens after a long delay — an apology, a payment, a life goal.

Hear it in a sentence

Por fin terminé la carrera a los cuarenta años; más vale tarde que nunca.

I finally finished my degree at forty — better late than never.

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.

← All 60 Spanish dichos

Get a dicho a day — with news at YOUR level.

Real news rewritten to exactly your Spanish level (A1–C2), one dicho per edition, every morning. Free.

Start today — it's free