A new year brings a new opportunity to uncover the meanings of two superficially similar Spanish nouns that mean slightly different things. This week’s words are gorro (masculine) and gorra (feminine).
You can listen to the pronunciation of gorro here:
As snow buffets or chill winds blow you’ll want to pull on your gorro (along with your bufanda (scarf), your guantes (gloves) and your abrigo (coat)) before you step outside, since un gorro is a hat, often of the tight-fitting woollen variety that has no brim or peak:
Su puso un gorro rojo.
She put on a red hat.
En invierno suelo llevar bufanda, gorro y guantes.
In winter I usually wear a scarf, hat and gloves.
¿Cuánto cuesta este gorro?
How much is this hat?
Un gorro might also be a brimless, peakless hat made of another material (some having a very specific purpose):
un cocinero con su alto gorro blanco
a chef with his tall white hat
No se puede entrar en la piscina sin gorro de baño.
You can’t go into the pool without a swimming cap.
Often with ribbons attached for tying under the chin, un gorro can also be a baby’s bonnet:
un gorro para bebé en crochet
a crocheted baby’s bonnet
Changing to gorra (feminine), this is pronounced as follows:
Una gorra is also a piece of headgear, though this time it usually has a peak; it generally translates as a cap:
Llevaba una gorra de beisbolista.
He was wearing a baseball cap.
Podríamos comprarnos gorras con visera.
We could buy ourselves peaked caps.
una gorra de apariencia militar
a cap of military appearance
PUZZLE TIME
1 How many types of headgear can you find in the following?
Vendo cascos búlgaros, boinas rusas y gorras alemanas.
2 Which word for a hat in Spanish might you associate with providing good shade?
ANSWERS
1 Three:
Vendo cascos búlgaros, boinas rusas y gorras alemanas.
I’m selling Bulgarian helmets, Russian berets and German caps.
2 You’d expect un sombrero (a hat with a brim) to keep you in the shade, because the word is related to la sombra, meaning shade (or shadow) in Spanish.
To lift the lid on more similar-looking Spanish nouns with different meanings, come back next week.
