¡Mira cómo brillan los farolillos!

Mira is the informal singular imperative of mirar (to look). It means look! when you are speaking to one person you would address as tú.

So ¡Mira cómo brillan los farolillos! is like saying:

• Look how the lanterns shine!
• Look at how the lanterns are shining!

Other possible forms would be:

• ¡Mire cómo brillan los farolillos! = polite singular (usted)
• ¡Mirad cómo brillan los farolillos! = informal plural in Spain (vosotros)
• ¡Miren cómo brillan los farolillos! = polite plural

It has an accent because cómo is being used in an exclamative sense: how.

In sentences like this, Spanish writes an accent on cómo when it means something like:

• how!
• in what a way!

So here cómo brillan means how they shine.

Compare:

• No sé cómo hacerlo. = I don’t know how to do it.
• ¡Mira cómo brillan! = Look how they shine!

Even in an indirect exclamation like this one, the accent stays.

Because the subject is los farolillos, which is plural.

• el farolillo = the little lantern
• los farolillos = the little lanterns

So the verb must also be plural:

• brilla = it shines
• brillan = they shine

That is why Spanish says:

• los farolillos brillan
• or here, more naturally in the exclamative structure, cómo brillan los farolillos

Because Spanish often allows, and sometimes prefers, verb + subject word order, especially in exclamations and after words like cómo.

A more neutral order would be:

• Los farolillos brillan. = The lanterns shine.

But in this exclamative structure, cómo brillan los farolillos sounds very natural and expressive.

English usually keeps the subject before the verb, but Spanish is more flexible with word order.

Farolillos is the plural of farolillo, which is a diminutive form of farol.

• farol = lantern / lamp
• farolillo = little lantern

In Spain, farolillos often refers to small decorative lanterns, especially the kind used at festivals, fairs, or street celebrations.

So depending on context, it may suggest not just lanterns, but pretty little festive lanterns.

It is a diminutive ending.

In Spanish, diminutives can suggest:

• small size
• affection
• charm
• sometimes a cute or decorative feel

So farolillos is not always just literally small lanterns. It can also feel more vivid or affectionate, like little lanterns or festive lanterns.

In Spain, diminutives are very common and often sound natural rather than overly emotional.

Los is the masculine plural definite article: the.

So:

• los farolillos = the lanterns

Spanish uses articles more often than English does, and in a sentence like this, los sounds completely natural because we are talking about a specific visible set of lanterns.

If you removed it and said ¡Mira cómo brillan farolillos!, that would sound wrong in standard Spanish.

Spanish uses inverted exclamation marks at the beginning and normal ones at the end:

• ¡ ... !

So:

• ¡Mira cómo brillan los farolillos!

This is standard Spanish punctuation. It shows from the start that the whole sentence is exclamatory.

The same happens with questions:

• ¿Cómo estás?

English only marks the end, but Spanish marks both beginning and end.

Yes. In sentences like this, mira often works as an attention-getter, not just a literal command to use your eyes.

It can mean things like:

• look
• just look
• hey, look
• wow, look at that

So ¡Mira cómo brillan los farolillos! sounds lively and natural, as if someone is drawing your attention to a beautiful sight.

Not usually in the same way.

• mirar = to look, to watch, to direct your attention
• ver = to see

Since the speaker is telling someone to direct their attention, mira is the natural choice.

So:

• ¡Mira cómo brillan los farolillos! = natural
• ¡Ve cómo brillan los farolillos! = not natural here

Spanish normally uses mirar for look!

In Spain, if you are speaking informally to more than one person, you would usually use vosotros:

• ¡Mirad cómo brillan los farolillos!

That is the normal Spain Spanish plural informal command.

Other versions:

• ¡Miren cómo brillan los farolillos! = formal plural
• ¡Mire cómo brillan los farolillos! = formal singular

So mira is specifically for one person you address as tú.

Yes, very natural.

It sounds expressive, warm, and everyday. It could easily be said while walking through a fair, festival, street market, or decorated area.

It especially fits Spain because farolillos strongly evokes the kind of decorative lanterns often seen at Spanish festivities.

A rough pronunciation is:

• fa-ro-LEE-yos

A few points:

• the stress is on -li-: faroLILlos
• in most of Spain, ll is usually pronounced like y
• r is tapped lightly in farolillos
• final s is clearly pronounced in standard central/northern Spain speech

A simple approximation for English speakers is:

• fah-roh-LEE-yos

Yes, absolutely.

If it is already clear what they are, Spanish can simply say:

• ¡Mira cómo brillan! = Look how they shine!

But when the speaker wants to name what is shining, they include the noun:

• ¡Mira cómo brillan los farolillos!

Both are natural; the longer version is just more explicit.