Perder el hilo
To lose the thread.
to lose one's train of thought; **to lose one's train of thought**; **to lose the thread**; **to lose track**; **to lose the plot** (in some contexts); **to forget what one was saying**
Perder el hilo means to lose one's train of thought or lose track of a conversation.
Espera un momento, que he perdido el hilo.
Wait a second—I lost my train of thought.
Me interrumpieron y perdí el hilo.
They interrupted me and I lost my train of thought.
Hablas tan deprisa que pierdo el hilo.
You speak so fast that I lose track.
Después de esa llamada, perdió el hilo de la conversación.
After that phone call, he lost the thread of the conversation.
It can refer either to the speaker forgetting what they were saying or to the listener no longer being able to follow the discussion.
- forgets what they were about to say
- is interrupted while speaking
- can no longer follow an explanation
- loses concentration
- becomes confused during a conversation
The metaphor comes from the ancient image of following a thread to avoid getting lost.
It is related to the famous Greek myth of Ariadne's thread, which guided Theseus out of the Labyrinth.
Like English, Spanish uses the thread as a symbol of continuity in reasoning or storytelling.
The expression is completely neutral.
People often use it humorously during conversations or presentations when they momentarily forget what they intended to say.
It is equally common among friends, teachers and public speakers.
Many European languages use the image of a thread to describe logical continuity.
Spanish says:
- Perder el hilo → to lose one's train of thought.
- Seguir el hilo → to follow the thread of an argument.
- Retomar el hilo → to pick up the thread again.
The metaphor has survived for over two thousand years and remains one of the clearest ways of describing how ideas connect.
Unlike many Spanish idioms, this one has a very close English equivalent.
You can naturally translate it as:
- to lose one's train of thought
- to lose the thread
- to lose track of the conversation
Choose the version that best matches the context.
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