Cuidado con el último escalón de la escalera.

Careful with the last step of the stairs.

Breakdown of Cuidado con el último escalón de la escalera.

• con: with
• de: of
• cuidado: careful
• la escalera: the staircase

Questions & Answers about Cuidado con el último escalón de la escalera.

Why is there no verb in the sentence? Shouldn’t it be “be careful” or “have care”?

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.