# Spanish Question: The Verb "Casar," "to Marry"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-question-the-verb-casar-to-marry/593799>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 23, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-question-the-verb-casar-to-marry/593799 "2011-08-23T17:29:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-question-the-verb-casar-to-marry/593799/1 "2011-08-23T17:29:15Z")

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Thinking about my high-school Spanish, I remember the verb “Casar” meaning “to Marry.” As in _Yo voy a casar a esa chica_ (I’m going to marry that girl) or _Yo estoy casado_ (I’m married).

Does the verb also refer to the act of performing a marriage? As in, _Padre Lopez va a casar a Marisol y Juan esto Sabado_ (Father Lopez is going to marry Marisol and Juan this Saturday).

_Gracias_

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**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-question-the-verb-casar-to-marry/593799/2 "2011-08-23T17:37:50Z")

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According to [this on-line dictionary](http://www.merriam-webster.com/spanish/marry), that construction is correct: “the priest married them : el cura los casó”.

Another example of this construction: [_Una jueza de La Pampa se niega a casar a parejas Gay_](http://www.clarin.com/sociedad/jueza-Pampa-niega-casar-parejas_0_299970116.html)

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**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-question-the-verb-casar-to-marry/593799/3 "2011-08-23T17:45:40Z")

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The difference being that “to marry” in the more common sense is _casar **se** con_, so your first example should be\* “_Me voy a casar con X_” – while “to marry” (transitive), as in what a priest does to a couple, is just _casar_.

(\*What you wrote actually \*does \*mean “I am a priest, and I am going to officiate this girls’ wedding.”)