How to Say ‘To be broke’ in Spain Spanish
Estar sin blanca
ess-TAR seen BLAHN-kah
[ess-TAR seen BLAHN-kah]
💬 Usage Tip: blanca is an old Spanish coin, not the colour "white". So the phrase means "to be without a single coin".
Phrase Breakdown
Estar
[ess-TAR]
to be
From 'estar', used for states, conditions, and how someone feels.
Después del descanso, quiero estar tranquilo.
After the break, I want to be calm.
sin
[seen]
without
In the absence of.
No lo hagas sin permiso.
Don't do it without permission.
blanca
[BLAHN-kah]
white (old coin); money
Literally 'white', here it refers to an old coin; 'sin blanca' means broke, with no money.
No puedo salir, no tengo ni blanca.
I can't go out, I don't have a penny.
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