This week we look at the commonest senses of another pair of Spanish nouns whose meanings differ depending on whether they are masculine (and end in -o in the singular and -os in the plural) or feminine (and end in -a in the singular and -as in the plural). The pair is peso and pesa.
Let’s start with the feminine this time. You can listen to the pronunciation of pesa in the audio clip below:
If you like a good workout you’ll be familiar with pesas, since una pesa is an object weighing a specific amount that you lift in sports. It translates as a weight or could also refer to a dumbbell:
Cogió una pesa de cinco kilos y la lanzó con todas sus fuerzas.
He picked up a five-kilo weight and threw it with all his strength.
Additionally, pesa is used to refer to the kind of weight found in an old-fashioned pendulum clock.
Otherwise, peso is probably the word you want for weight. You can listen to how it’s pronounced in the audio clip below:
You’ll see in the examples below that peso (masculine) works as a general word for weight:
Muchos niños se preocupan por su peso.
Many children worry about their weight.
Me di cuenta de que tenía que perder peso.
I realized I needed to lose weight.
Es capaz de levantar tres veces su propio peso.
He can lift three times his own weight.
el campeón del peso welter
the welterweight champion
Parecen aplastados por el peso de sus responsabilidades.
They seem crushed by the weight of their responsibilities.
el peso de la opinión pública
the weight of public opinion
Some Latin American countries, such as Mexico, use el peso (peso) as their currency:
Saco un promedio de 20 pesos diarios.
I get an average of 20 pesos a day.
To read about another pair of nouns whose meaning varies substantially depending on their gender and ending, come back next week.
