Pasar por caja
To go through the checkout.
to go to the checkout; **to go to the checkout**; **to go to the cash register**; **to pay**; **to pay up**; **to foot the bill**; **to pay the price**; **to pay the piper**; **to bear the cost**
Pasar por caja has two closely related meanings.
Si quieres llevártelo, tendrás que pasar por caja.
If you want to take it home, you'll have to pay for it.
Después de llenar el carro, pasamos por caja.
After filling the cart, we went to the checkout.
Ahora toca pasar por caja y pagar la factura.
Now we have to foot the bill.
El Gobierno tendrá que pasar por caja para financiar el proyecto.
The government will have to pay up to finance the project.
Después de todos esos errores, alguien tendrá que pasar por caja.
After all those mistakes, someone is going to have to pay the price.
Al final, los consumidores son los que pasan por caja.
In the end, consumers are the ones who foot the bill.
1. Literal meaning
To go to the checkout and pay for something.
Tengo que pasar por caja antes de salir.
→ I have to go to the checkout before leaving.
2. Figurative meaning
To pay for something, especially when the payment is unavoidable or unwelcome.
It can also mean that someone must accept the consequences or cost of something.
Al final, todos tenemos que pasar por caja.
→ In the end, we all have to pay the price.
The figurative use often has an ironic or critical tone.
- paying for goods or services
- referring to a financial cost
- emphasising that payment is unavoidable
- talking about taxes, fees or expenses
- suggesting that someone must bear the consequences of their actions
The expression comes directly from the literal action of going to the checkout or cash desk in a shop to pay for what one has bought.
The physical action naturally acquired a figurative meaning: if you have benefited from something or caused something, eventually you may have to "go to the cash desk" and pay the cost.
The figurative use often implies that the payment is unavoidable.
For example:
Has disfrutado mucho; ahora toca pasar por caja.
→ You've had a great time; now it's time to pay.
It can also be used when someone else is ultimately responsible for paying:
Los ciudadanos pasarán por caja.
→ The citizens will end up footing the bill.
This is particularly common in political and economic journalism.
Pasar por caja is particularly productive in Spanish journalism because it can refer to almost any kind of unavoidable cost:
Los consumidores pasarán por caja.
Las empresas tendrán que pasar por caja.
El Estado tendrá que pasar por caja.
The expression therefore allows the speaker to turn an abstract economic obligation into a very concrete image: someone eventually has to walk up to the checkout and pay.
The literal meaning is straightforward:
Pasar por caja.
→ Go to the checkout.
But in figurative contexts, English usually does not preserve the image of the checkout.
For example:
Al final tendremos que pasar por caja.
could mean:
In the end, we'll have to pay up.
or:
In the end, we'll have to foot the bill.
or, if consequences are involved:
In the end, we'll have to pay the price.
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