Here’s a chance to get a handle on the commonest senses of another pair of similar-looking Spanish nouns: mango and manga.
Starting with the masculine noun mango, you can listen to how it’s pronounced here:
Perhaps you won’t be surprised to know that, just like its English twin, un mango is both a tropical fruit with yellow flesh surrounded by a smooth rind and the tree it grows on – a mango:
Estos árboles producían unos mangos muy buenos.
These trees produced very good mangoes.
una cesta de mangos
a basket of mangoes
árboles frutales como el mango y la piña
fruit trees such as the mango and the pineapple
Removing the g from mango to create mano (hand) may give you a clue to another of its meanings… a part of something that you grip with your hand – a handle:
El cuchillo tenía un nombre grabado en el mango.
The knife had a name engraved on the handle.
Usa un hacha con mango de madera.
She uses an axe with a wooden handle.
Se usa para instrumentos musicales, mangos de herramientas y cuchillos, etc.
It is used for musical instruments, handles of tools, knives, etc.
Turning to manga (feminine), this is how it’s pronounced:
Una manga (feminine) is one of the two tube-like parts of clothing that cover (or partly cover) your arms – a sleeve:
María lleva una camiseta blanca sin mangas.
María is wearing a sleeveless white T-shirt.
una túnica larga de lana de manga corta con bordados en las mangas y el cuello
a long woollen tunic with short sleeves and embroidery on the sleeves and collar
In technical and mechanical contexts, una manga can also be a tube for containing and directing air or fluid. In this case it’s a hose or a hosepipe:
Contaba además con una manga para suplir de agua a las locomotoras de vapor.
It also had a hose to provide water for the steam locomotives.
However, you’ll find thatin everyday contexts, such as in the garden, una manguera is the likely word for a hose or a hosepipe:
Una manguera de jardín es usada para regar las plantas en un jardín o patio.
A garden hose is used to water the plants in a garden or on a patio.
Segundos después, dos bomberos más entran a la habitación para extinguir el fuego con mangueras contra incendios.
Seconds later, two more firefighters come into the bedroom to put out the fire with fire hoses.
Una manga can also refer to other funnel- or tube-like items for directing air, substances or sometimes even passengers:
Introducimos crema en el interior de la masa frita con una manga pastelera.
We put cream in the fried dough using a piping bag.
En los aeropuertos se usan las mangas de viento para indicar la dirección del viento.
Windsocks are used to show the wind direction at airports.
Van a colocar mangas para que los pasajeros aborden los aviones.
Boarding bridges or Jet bridges will be installed for the passengers to board the planes.
Another sense of una manga (feminine) is one of the divisions of a match or competition. In tennis, this would be a set. In another sport it might be a round or a stage:
El español volvió a ganar en tres mangas por 7-5, 3-6 y 6-2.
The Spaniard won again in three sets: 7-5, 3-6 and 6-2.
Ha sido una regata muy bonita, con unas mangas muy competitivas.
It’s been a really nice regatta, with some very competitive stages.
Los circuitos son mucho más pequeños que en el motocross, y las mangas clasificatorias son más cortas.
The circuits are much smaller than in motocross and the qualifying rounds are shorter.
tandas de práctica, clasificación, mangas eliminatorias y competencias finales
practice rounds, qualifiers, eliminator heats and final competitions
Despite ending in a, manga also has one masculine sense which denotes the Japanese genre and comic from which it takes its name – manga:
Está muy influida por el manga.
She’s greatly influenced by manga.
Es una serie de manga japonés escrita e ilustrada por Masakuni Igarashi.
It’s a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masakuni Igarashi.
To be directed towards some more similar-looking Spanish words and their different uses, join us again next week.
