Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Cuidado con el último escalón de la escalera. - Careful with the last step of the stairs.

Spanish often uses Cuidado as a standalone warning, like “Careful!” or “Watch out!” The fuller version with a verb is common too: Ten cuidado con… (informal), Tenga cuidado con… (formal), or Tened/Tengan cuidado con…. On signs and in quick speech, dropping the verb is very natural: ¡Cuidado con…!

Is cuidado a noun or an interjection? How else is it used?

It’s primarily a noun meaning “care/caution,” used in tener cuidado (“to be careful”). It also works as an interjection on its own: ¡Cuidado! Other set uses:

cuidado con + noun/gerund: “watch out for…” (e.g., Cuidado con el hielo).
con cuidado: “carefully” (e.g., Hazlo con cuidado).
Verb related to it: cuidar = “to look after/to care for” (different meaning).

Why is it cuidado con and not cuidado de?

With hazards named as nouns, Spanish uses cuidado con + noun/gerund: Cuidado con el último escalón.
Use (tener) cuidado de + infinitive when warning about an action: Ten cuidado de no resbalar (“Be careful not to slip”). In colloquial Spain you also hear Cuidado, que… introducing a clause: Cuidado, que te caes.

Should this take exclamation marks in Spanish?

Yes, warnings are typically written with inverted exclamation marks: ¡Cuidado con el último escalón de la escalera! On signs and labels they’re often omitted for design reasons, but in normal writing you’d include them.

Does último escalón mean the bottom step or the top step?

It’s context-dependent: it means the last step in the direction of movement. Most often it warns about the bottom step when you’re going down, but if someone is climbing, it could be the top step. To be explicit, add:

…al bajar (when descending)
…al subir (when ascending) Or: el escalón de abajo / de arriba.

Why is it el último and not just último?

Spanish uses the definite article much more than English. With ordinal-type adjectives like último, you almost always include the article when specifying a particular member of a known set: el último escalón. Omitting the article here (Cuidado con último escalón) is ungrammatical.

Why masculine último? What are the genders of these nouns, and how do they pluralize?

Adjectives agree with the noun they modify. Escalón is masculine, so we say el último escalón; escalera is feminine. Plurals:

escalón → escalones
escalera → escaleras
último → últimos / última → últimas (matching the noun: e.g., los últimos escalones)

Why de la escalera and not en la escalera? And why not del?

de la marks belonging/specification (“the last step of the staircase”), which is what we need.
en la would focus on location (“on the staircase”) and sounds odd here.
del is the contraction of de + el (masculine). Escalera is feminine, so it must be de la, not del.

Why does último come before the noun? I thought Spanish adjectives usually follow nouns.

Most adjectives do follow the noun, but ordinals and similar adjectives (e.g., primer, segundo, último) normally precede it: el último escalón. The reversed order (el escalón último) is rare or literary and not used for ordinary warnings.

What’s the difference between escalón, peldaño, and escalera?

escalón: a step of a staircase; very common for stairs.
peldaño: often a rung of a ladder; also used for stair steps (especially in Spain), slightly more formal/technical.
escalera: the staircase as a whole, or a ladder (context decides). For a ladder, specify escalera de mano. Note: Spanish can refer to “the stairs” as either la escalera (singular) or las escaleras (plural) depending on context.

Any pronunciation and accent-mark tips for this sentence?

Stress: cui-DA-do | ÚL-ti-mo | es-ca-LÓN | es-ca-LE-ra.
Último is an esdrújula (stress on the third-from-last syllable) and always carries an accent, even in ALL CAPS.
Escalón is stressed on the last syllable and needs the accent because it ends in -n.
In Spain, the c in escalera is a hard [k] (not “th” here, since it’s before a). The d in cuidado between vowels is a soft sound.

Can I omit de la escalera?

Yes, if it’s obvious which staircase you’re talking about (e.g., a sign placed right by it), Cuidado con el último escalón or Cuidado: último escalón is perfectly natural. Add more detail only if needed: …de la escalera del fondo.

What are some natural alternatives in Spain with different registers?

Colloquial: Ojo con el último escalón.
Neutral/signage: Atención: último escalón. / Precaución: último escalón.
With a verb: Ten/Tenga/Tengan cuidado con el último escalón.
Focus on the action: Cuidado al bajar (por la escalera).

How do I say it if more than one step is tricky, or if I want “second to last”?

Multiple steps: Cuidado con los últimos escalones (de la escalera).
Second to last: Cuidado con el penúltimo escalón.