Starting with tejo, you can listen to its pronunciation here:
Un tejo (masculine) is a long-living evergreen tree which, while very poisonous, plays an important part these days in the creation of anti-cancer medications. Yes, it’s a yew tree.
una sustancia que se obtiene de la corteza y las agujas del tejo
a substance that’s obtained from the bark and needles of the yew tree
Un tejo is also a disc or other marker thrown in certain games (for example, hopscotch), which also take the name of tejo. Particularly striking is the Colombian sport of tejo. In this, discs are thrown at a target in a clay-filled area amid mini gunpowder explosions triggered by the tejo hitting the target.
pistas para juegos recreativos como petanca o tejo
areas for playing recreational games like pétanque or hopscotch/tejo
Moving on to teja, you can hear how it is pronounced here:
Tejas play a big part in townscapes or villagescapes as they are those pieces of clay or other material used by roofers to cover roofs – in other words, una teja (feminine) is a tile:
Las propiedades son de construcción tradicional, con techos de tejas francesas.
The properties are of a traditional construction, with French tile roofs.
El agua corría con un siseo entre las tejas del techo.
The water hissed its way between the roof tiles.
Because Spanish tejas are so often made of clay and form such a colourful part of the scenery, de color teja is used to describe their typical terracotta or brick-red colour:
En las paredes se propone un estucado en tono turquesa con una orla de color teja.
For the walls they’re suggesting turquoise stucco with a terracotta frieze.
Resaltar los pómulos con fucsia, y completar con un tono más teja.
Use fuchsia to highlight the cheekbones, and finish off with a shade that’s more terracotta.
If a priest is described as wearing un sombrero de teja, this has nothing to do with colour. Also known as un sombrero de canal, un sombrero de teja is a wide-brimmed hat with a rounded crown. It is sometimes known by the Italian term cappello romano or else saturno in priestly circles:
un cura con sombrero de teja
a priest in a clerical wide-brimmed hat
When common nouns like teja, naranja, rosa and violeta are used to denote colour names, they are masculine, regardless of their original gender:
colores como el azul, el negro, el rosa, el amarillo
colours like blue, black, pink, yellow
Sus siluetas se recortaban en el horizonte mientras la luz se degradaba del naranja al violeta.
Their silhouettes stood out against the horizon as the colour faded from orange to violet.
As adjectives, these repurposed nouns are invariable:
vino de intenso color rubí, con matices teja y caoba
wine of an intense ruby colour, with hints of terracotta and mahogany
As we’ve seen, teja is the word for roof tile, but do you know your terms for other types of tile?
Large, fine, functional ones used on floors, walls or other surfaces are baldosas. They may be ceramic, marble or stone.
Losas can be the same as baldosas, though more usually this term refers to large stone or concrete paving stones for outside use.
Glazed, often decorative tiles are azulejos. These are the ones you might buy as souvenirs in Spain, for instance.
To join us as we break down the differences between more similar-looking Spanish nouns, come back next week.
