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What does pura vida mean?

Say itPOO-rah VEE-dah/ˈpuɾa ˈβiða/phrase (adjective, adverb, and exclamation)

Where you’ll hear it
  • Costa Rica

A casual Costa Rican phrase, literally "pure life," that means good, nice, healthy, very well, or OK, and also works as a greeting and a goodbye.

Written by the Second Language TeamWritten

Pura vida means "pure life," but nobody in Costa Rica uses it that literally. It’s an all-purpose happy phrase. A person who is pura vida is nice, and a trip that was pura vida was great. When someone asks "¿Cómo estás?" ("How are you?"), the answer "¡Pura vida!" means "Great!" It can also mean "OK," and it works as hello and goodbye. The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (the RAE, which sets standard Spanish) lists it as casual Costa Rican Spanish [1]. Costa Ricans, who call themselves ticos, say it all the time, and many people in other countries know Costa Rica by this phrase.

Say it POO-rah VEE-dah. The r in pura is a quick tap of the tongue, like the tt in American "butter." The v in vida sounds like a soft b. The d is soft too, close to the th in "this." The phrase is casual and friendly, never rude. It fits a chat with a friend, a shopkeeper, or a grandmother.

Word stats

How casual
Informal, but ticos say it to friends, shopkeepers, and strangers alike.
OK at work
Fine in a team chat or a quick talk with a Costa Rican coworker. Leave it out of a contract.
Abuela-safe
Fully abuela-safe (abuela means grandma). She may answer "¿cómo está?" with it herself.
Rudeness
Never rude. It’s hard to sound grumpy while saying "pure life."
Freshness
Around since the 1950s and still everywhere in Costa Rica. Searches hold steady year after year.

Spotted in the wild

WhatsApp with your Costa Rican friend · Monday
  1. Sofíahola! ¿cómo estás?
  2. Yougood! and you?
  3. Sofíapura vida 😎 see you saturday?
  4. Youyes! can’t wait
  5. Sofíapura vida, bye!

What it means here: "Hola" means "hi," and "¿cómo estás?" means "how are you?" Sofía’s first pura vida means "great," and her last one means "bye."

Chat with your surf instructor · Costa Rica
  1. Youhey Diego, can we move tomorrow’s lesson to 9?
  2. Diegopura vida, 9 then 🤙

What it means here: Here pura vida means "OK, deal." Diego agrees to the new time.

Comments on your travel post
  1. Youfirst week in Costa Rica and everyone here is so kind
  2. Valeriajaja los ticos somos pura vida 💚
  3. Joshok now I need to go

What it means here: "Jaja" is "haha," and Valeria’s comment means "we Costa Ricans are nice people." Here pura vida describes people.

How to use it

  • ¡Pura vida! as an answer to "how are you?"—¿Cómo estás? —¡Pura vida! ("How are you?" "Great!")
  • a person + es pura vida (nice)Mi vecina es pura vida. ("My neighbor is really nice.")
  • a thing or place + es / estuvo pura vida (good)La playa estuvo pura vida. ("The beach was great.")
  • Pura vida. as a reply that agrees (OK)—¿Nos vemos a las ocho? —Pura vida. ("See you at eight?" "OK.")
  • ¡Pura vida! as hello or goodbye¡Pura vida! Nos vemos mañana. ("Bye! See you tomorrow.")

Don’t say it like this

  • Sounds offMi hermano es puro vida. / Mis amigos son puras vidas.

    Say thisMi hermano es pura vida. / Mis amigos son pura vida. ("My brother is great." / "My friends are great.")

    Pura vida is a fixed phrase. Pura matches vida ("life"), not the person, so it never changes for a man or for a group.

  • Sounds off"PYOOR-uh VYE-duh"

    Say this"POO-rah VEE-dah"

    The Spanish u sounds like "oo," and the i sounds like "ee." The r is a quick tap, and the d is soft.

  • Sounds off"Pura vida means I want a pure life."

    Say this"Pura vida means great, nice, OK, hi, or bye."

    The literal meaning is "pure life," but people don’t use it that way. Someone who answers "¿cómo estás?" with pura vida means "I’m great."

  • Sounds off"Pura vida was born on Costa Rica’s beaches."

    Say this"Pura vida spread from a Mexican movie, and Costa Rica made it its own."

    The best-supported story traces it to the 1950s Mexican comedy ¡Pura vida!, whose hero says it again and again [2].

pura vida or not?

Is each of these pura vida? Pick an answer to find out.

  1. A Costa Rican friend texts "¿todo bien?" ("all good?") and you answer "pura vida."

  2. Someone writes "mi papá es puro vida."

  3. A shopkeeper in San José hands you your change and says "¡pura vida!" as you leave.

  4. You say "pura vida" to tell a Costa Rican coworker that the meeting went badly.

The pura vida family

  • ¡pura vida no más!"Just pure life!" The comedian Clavillazo’s catchphrase in the movie that made pura vida popular.Stretch the last word for the full movie effect: no máaaas.
  • tico / ticaA Costa Rican: tico for a man, tica for a woman, and ticos for a group.The people who say pura vida most.

Where it came from

  1. 1955–1956The Mexican comedy ¡Pura vida!, directed by Gilberto Martínez Solares, stars Antonio Espino, known as Clavillazo, whose catchphrase is "¡pura vida no máaaas!" La Nación dates the film to 1955 and its Costa Rican release to a year later. His character, Melquiades, is the only one who says pura vida, 13 times, to mean "good" or "nice" [2].
  2. 2023After decades of daily use in Costa Rica, pura vida enters the RAE’s Diccionario de la lengua española in update 23.7. The change followed work by the Academia Costarricense de la Lengua, Costa Rica’s language academy [3].
  3. TodayThe dictionary lists six meanings, all Costa Rican [1], and ticos keep using all six, sometimes in one conversation.

Six ways to use pura vida

Pura vida does many jobs. The RAE’s dictionary lists six meanings, and it marks all of them as casual and Costa Rican [1]:

UseWhat it meansExample
About a personnice, friendlyTu mamá es pura vida. ("Your mom is so nice.")
About a thinggood, pleasantEl hotel es pura vida. ("The hotel is great.")
About healthhealthy, doing wellMi abuelo está pura vida. ("My grandpa is in good health.")
How something wentvery wellTodo salió pura vida. ("Everything went really well.")
AgreeingOK, deal—¿A las seis? —Pura vida. ("At six?" "OK.")
Hello or goodbyehi, bye¡Pura vida! Nos vemos. ("Bye! See you.")

The phrase stays the same in every use. Say pura vida about a man, a woman, or a whole group of friends. Don’t change it to puro or add an s.

The RAE’s dictionary lists pura vida only for Costa Rica [1]. The Costa Rican newspaper La Nación describes it as a phrase that arrived through movies and became a mark of Costa Rican identity [2]. Outside Costa Rica, people may know the phrase without using it every day. In Costa Rica, you’ll hear it everywhere.

Sources

  1. vida | Diccionario de la lengua españolaReal Academia Española
  2. '¡Pura vida!' es una 'marca' de Costa RicaLa Nación (Costa Rica)
  3. ¿Cómo llegó 'pura vida' finalmente al diccionario?La Nación (Costa Rica)

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