How do you say “Go through the motions” in Spanish?
The closest natural Spanish equivalent is hacerlo solo por cumplir, which literally means “to do it only to fulfil an obligation”. English speakers use go through the motions to mean to do the expected actions without real interest, care or effort. Fits doing the expected thing without putting your heart into it. Register: informal. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural Spanish
hacerlo solo por cumplir
/aˈseɾlo ˈsolo poɾ kumˈpliɾ/
- Literal meaning
- “to do it only to fulfil an obligation”
- Register
- informal
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
93 out of 100
What a native Spanish speaker would actually say
“Solo por cumplir” means doing something just to meet an obligation or expectation. It works for an insincere apology or someone putting in the bare minimum.
“Sin ganas” is broader: you can dislike a task and still do it carefully. Use it when the English is mainly about lost enthusiasm.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone5 out of 5
- Context4 out of 5
- Literal similarity1 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
What are other ways to say it in Spanish?
hacer algo sin ganas
Literally: “to do something without wanting to”
Describes a lack of enthusiasm, not necessarily a token effort.
In context
English
The team went through the motions at training.
Spanish
El equipo entrenó solo por cumplir.
English
He apologised, but he was just going through the motions.
Spanish
Se disculpó, pero lo hizo solo por cumplir.
Related expressions
Last updated 2026-09-19