Caminando por la selva con animales

What does “oigo” mean in Spanish?

Oigo means “I hear.” It comes from oír, a short, irregular verb you will meet constantly: oigo (I hear), oyes (you hear), oye (he or she hears). That last form has a second life: ¡Oye! on its own means “hey!” or “listen!”, the normal way to get a friend’s attention. So the children’s song’s oigo un elefante and a stranger’s ¡oye! in the street are the same little verb.

The song repeats the pattern Oigo, oigo un elefante… oigo una serpiente, which is a gentle way to fix the sound of oigo in memory. Oír is hearing, the sound reaching you; escuchar is listening on purpose, like escuchar música. Two other spin-offs: oiga, the usted form, for catching the attention of someone you address formally, a waiter or a stranger, and ¡oye, oye! when someone is being cheeky.