Have you ever found yourself in the embarrassing situation of asking a bewildered waiter for the cuento? Or perhaps you have tried to buy a barro de chocolate, or you have pulled into a gas station to say that you have a llanto flojo? If so, your Spanish is still floundering in the gender jumble.
I know what a problem gender can be for English speakers. The idea that every noun is, so to speak, either a boy or a girl confounds us. What’s more, there are all these vexing words that change meaning when they change gender: words like cuento (story) and cuenta (bill, account), barro (mud) and barra (bar), llanto (cry) and llanta (tire).
You must acknowledge, however, they can be handy. For example, you don’t have to learn two different words for naturally male and female items like niño and niña. Besides, it’s helpful to remember that, with few exceptions, fruit trees are masculine (el manzano, apple tree) and their fruit is feminine (la manzana, apple).
But, let’s face it: Words that are so much alike can really get in the way. I still hesitate a moment before deciding whether to use punto or punta.
The following are examples of such pairs of nouns. (To avoid further confusion, I have included only those that end in “o” or “a”). Sometimes their meanings are related; other times, not at all.
el acto – act (refers to both an action and a theater act)
el acta – record, certificate affidavit (note that in Spanish a singular feminine noun that begins in a stressed “a” takes el instead of la for an article, in order to avoid the collision of a’s)
el alto – height, elevation
el alta – discharge (of patients), entry (to the military or a profession)
el anillo – ring (as for a finger)
la anilla – curtain ring
el arco – arch
el arca – chest, ark
el bando – edict, proclamation
la banda – band (as in strip), troop, gang, musical band
el bolo – bowling pin
la bola – ball
el bolso – purse
la bolsa – bag, sack, pocket
el brazo – arm (of a person or chair)
la braza – breaststroke, fathom
el caño– ditch or pipe for draining water
la caña – reed, cane
el capo – hood (of a car)
la capa – cape, cloak, coating (of paint, etc.), layer
el caso – case
la casa – house
el codo – elbow
la coda – musical term, carpenter’s wedge
el copo – flake, snowflake, tuft, clot, curd
la copa – cup, goblet, wineglass
el coso – bullfighting arena
la cosa – thing
el cero – zero
la cera – wax
el cuadro – square, picture, painting
la cuadra – city block
el cubierto – table setting, silverware
la cubierta – cover, wrapping, pretext
el derecho – law (the institution of), right (as in human rights)
la derecha – right (as in “to turn to the right”)
el fallo – ruling, judgment, lapse, error
la falla – fault, defect
el filo – cutting edge, hunger (slang)
la fila – line (as in “to wait in line”), row
el labio – lip, rim
la labia – eloquence, verbal fluency
el libro – book
la libra – pound (of weight)
el mallo – mallet, maul
la malla – mesh, netting
el manto – cloak, mantle
la manta – blanket, shawl, poncho, shroud
el marco – frame
la marca – brand, trademark, make, mark
el palo – pole, tree
la pala – shovel
el partido – party (as in a political party), game or match (as in a football game)
la partida – departure
el pasto – pasture, pasture grass, feed, fodder
la pasta – dough, pasta, paste
el pelo – hair, whisker
la pela – peeling, stripping, beating
el peso – weight, importance
la pesa – dumbbell, weight
el plato – plate
la plata – money, silver
el pozo – pool, well
la poza – swimming hole in a river
el puerto – port
la puerta – door
el punto – dot, period, moment, matter, small hole, stitch
la punta – sharpened point, tip, top, point of land
el rato – short time, while
la rata – rat
el rayo – ray, beam, thunderbolt, flash of lightening, flash of pain
la raya – stripe, line, scratch, crease, limit
el reino – kingdom
la reina – queen
el ruedo – turn, rotation, edge, border, hem
la rueda – wheel
el rumbo – direction, course
la rumba – rumba (the dance)
el suelo – land, ground, soil, territory
la suela – sole (of a shoe), tanned leather
el tallo – (botanical) stalk, stem, sprout, shoot
la talla – stature, height, size (of clothing), wood carving, reward
el tiro – throw, shooting, shot
la tira – strip (of paper, etc.)
el tramo – section, stretch of land
la trama – plot (of a story), scheme
el tormento – torture, torment, anguish
la tormenta – storm, turmoil
el velo – veil, mask
la vela – vigil, watch, night shift, sleeplessness, sail (of a boat), sailboat, candle.
