How do you say “Turn the tables” in Spanish?
The closest natural Spanish equivalent is dar la vuelta a la tortilla, which literally means “to turn the omelette over”. English speakers use turn the tables to mean to reverse a situation so that you gain the advantage. A Spanish idiom for reversing a situation, especially who has the advantage. The cooking image is familiar in Spain. Register: informal. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural Spanish
dar la vuelta a la tortilla
/daɾ la ˈβwelta a la toɾˈtiʝa/
- Literal meaning
- “to turn the omelette over”
- Register
- informal
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
94 out of 100
What a native Spanish speaker would actually say
Just as an omelette is flipped, the situation changes sides. The phrase can describe a comeback or someone reversing the pressure in a conversation.
Make the result clear in the sentence. It does not merely mean making a different plan.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone5 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity2 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
In context
English
After two defeats, we turned the tables and beat them in the final.
Spanish
Después de dos derrotas, dimos la vuelta a la tortilla y les ganamos en la final.
English
She turned the tables on the interviewer by asking about his own mistakes.
Spanish
Dio la vuelta a la tortilla al preguntarle al entrevistador por sus propios errores.
Related expressions
- What “Turn the tables” means in English
- Flip the script, to change the usual approach or reverse expected roles
Last updated 2026-10-01