Confusing Spanish Words and How To Use Them Correctly

Confusing Spanish Words and How To Use Them Correctly Partly because Spanish and English have so many similarities, its tempting to think youll seldom find Spanish vocabulary confusing. But in fact, there are plenty of words that trip up Spanish students repeatedly. And they arent all false friends, words similar to their English counterparts that dont mean the same thing. Some are homophones (two or more different words that sound alike), some are words that are closely similar, and some can be blamed on the rules of grammar. If you want to avoid embarrassment or unnecessary confusion, here are some top candidates for words to learn: Ano vs. Aà ±o Ano and aà ±o dont sound alike. But those who dont know how to type an à ± (or are lazy) are often tempted to use an n instead in aà ±o, the word for year. Dont succumb to the temptation: Ano comes from the same Latin root as the English word anus and has the same meaning. Cabello vs. Caballo English speakers tend to be imprecise in their pronunciations, partly because some sounds, such as the ai in fountain, can be represented in writing by any vowel. But Spanish speakers, although they tend to pronounce consonants softly, are usually distinct with their vowels. So words such as cabello (hair, but collectively rather than as a single hair) and caballo (horse) arent thought of as sounding much alike. Caro vs. Carro Its easy for foreigners to mix up the r and rr - the former is usually a  flap of the tongue against the roof of the mouth, while the latter is a trill. Usually, reversing the sounds wont cause misunderstanding. But the difference between caro and carro is the difference between something expensive and a car, respectively. And, yes, you can have a carro caro. Cazar vs. Casar While there may be some who have gone hunting for a spouse, cazar (to hunt) and casar (to marry) arent related to each other even though they sound alike in Latin America. Cocer vs. Coser Another pair of verbs that sound alike in Latin America are cocer (to cook) and coser (to sew). Although they can both be homemaking tasks, they arent related. Dà ­a Although there are dozens of words ending in -a that break the main gender rule and so are masculine, dà ­a (day) is the most common. Embarazada If youre embarrassed and female, avoid the temptation to say youre embarazada, as the meaning of that adjective is pregnant. The most common adjective of embarrassment is avergonzado. Interestingly, embarazada (or the masculine form, embarazado) has been so often used as a mistranslation of embarrassed that that definition has been added to some dictionaries. Éxito Éxito is a word youll come across frequently- but it nothing to do with an exit. Its the best translation for success and can be used in many contexts. For example, a hit song or movie can be called an à ©xito. An exit is a salida. Gringo If someone calls you a gringo (feminine gringa), you might take it as an insult- or you might take it as a term of affection or as a neutral description. It all depends on where you are and the context. As a noun, gringo most often refers to a foreigner, especially someone who speaks English. But at times it can refer to any non-Spanish speaker, a British person, a resident of the United States, a Russian, someone with blond hair, and/or someone with white skin. Inhabitable In a sense, the Spanish inhabitable and the English inhabitable are the same word- both are spelled alike, and they come from a Latin word habitabilus, which meant suitable for habitation. But they have opposite meanings. In other words, the Spanish inhabitable means uninhabitable or not inhabitable. Yes, thats confusing. But its confusing only because English is confusing- habitable and inhabitable mean the same thing, and for the same reason flammable and imflammable have the same meaning. The situation came about because Latin had two prefixes spelled in-, one meaning inside and the other meaning not. You can see these meanings in words such as incarcerate (incarcerar) and incredible (increà ­ble), respectively. So with inhabitable the prefix in English has the inside meaning, and the identically spelled prefix in Spanish has the not meaning. Interestingly, once upon a time the English inhabitable meant not habitable. Its meaning shifted a few hundred years ago. Ir and Ser in the Preterite Tense Two of the most highly irregular verbs in Spanish are ir (to go) and ser (to be). Although the two verbs have different origins, they share the same preterite conjugation: fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron. If you see one of those forms, the only way to know whether it comes from ir or ser is by context. Lima and Limà ³n You may have been taught that limà ³n is the word for lime and lima is the word for lemon- the opposite of what you might expect. While that is true for some Spanish speakers, the truth is that, depending on where you are, either Spanish term at times is used for  either fruit. And in some areas, limas and limones are seen as two similar fruits, both of which may be called lemons in English. In some places, limes arent commonly eaten (theyre native to Asia), so theres no universally understood word for them. In any case, this is one word that you are likely to have to ask the locals about. Mano Mano (hand) is the most common feminine noun that ends in -o. In fact, it is only such word in everyday use if you exclude occupational names (such as el piloto or la piloto for pilot), proper nouns, and a few shortened words such as la disco (short for la discoteca) and la foto (short for la fotografà ­a). Two other feminine nouns ending in -o are seo (cathedral) and nao (ship), but they get almost no use. Marida Most nouns ending in -o that refer to people refer to men, and the ending can be changed to -a to refer to women. So, of course, it makes sense that esposo, a common word for husband, has the feminine form esposa, meaning wife. It would be just as logical to assume that another word for husband, marido, would have corresponding term, marida, for wife. But, at least in standard Spanish, there is no noun marida. In fact, the usual phrase for husband and wife is marido y mujer, with mujer also being the word for woman. Although there may be some limited colloquial use for marida in some areas, its most common use is by foreigners who dont know better. Molestar and Violar To molest someone is a serious offense, but to molestar someone is merely to bother that person (although the phrase molestar sexualmente can have a meaning similar to the English word). An similar situation occurs with violar and violate, but in the other direction. Violar and violacià ³n typically refer to rape, although they can have a less severe meaning. In English violate and violation usually have a mild meaning, although they can refer to rape. In both languages, context makes all the difference. Papas and a Pap Spanish has four types of papa, although only the first two below are widely used. The first papa comes from Latin, while the others come from indigenous languages: A pope (the head of the Roman Catholic Church). The word normally shouldnt be capitalized except at the beginning of a sentence.In most of Latin America, a potato, which can also be a patata.In Mexico, a type of baby food or bland soup.In Honduras, a foolish woman. Also, pap is an informal word for father, sometimes the equivalent of daddy. Unlike the other papas, its stress or accent is on the second syllable. Por vs. Para There are perhaps no prepositions more confounding for Spanish students than por and para, both of which are frequently translated to English as for. See the lesson on por vs. para for full explanation, but the way-too-short version is that por is typically used to indicate the cause of something while para is used to indicate a purpose. Preguntar vs. Pedir Both preguntar and pedir are usually translated as to ask, but they dont mean the same thing. Preguntar refers to asking a question, while pedir is used in making a request. But dont feel bad if you get them mixed up: Spanish speakers learning English often get mixed up with question and doubt as nouns, saying I have a doubt rather than I have a question. Thats because the noun duda has both meanings. Sentar vs. Sentir In the infinitive form, sentar (to sit) and sentir (to feel) are easy to tell apart. The confusion comes when theyre conjugated. Most notably, siento can mean either I sit or I feel. Also, the subjunctive forms of one verb are often the indicative forms of the other. So when you come across verb forms such as sienta and sentamos, youll have to pay attention to the context to know which verb is being conjugated.