It’s that time of the week when we give you a heads-up about the differences and similarities between some similar-looking Spanish words without, of course, splitting hairs. These are calva and calvo.
Starting with calva, you can listen to how it’s pronounced here:
Una calva is an area that lacks some kind of covering. When talking about someone’s head, it’s a bald head or a bald patch, depending on the context:
Se rascó la calva.
He scratched his bald head.
Presenta una amplia calva en la parte superior de la cabeza.
He has a large bald patch on the upper part of his head.
Lo único que brillaba en él era su resplandeciente calva.
The only thing that shone about him was his shiny bald pate or bald head.
Una calva in a carpet, fabric or lawn is a bare patch or a worn area:
En los céspedes, si hay alguna calva, es el momento de resembrar.
If there’s a bare patch on a lawn, it’s time to reseed.
Una calva can also mean a place in a forest, field or landscape where there is a gap in the trees, crops or growth:
en una calva donde la luz de la luna nos permitía visibilidad
in a clearing where the moonlight provided visibility
Moving on to calvo, you can hear how it’s pronounced here:
Un calvo is a man who lacks hair on his head – a bald man:
El calvo encendió un nuevo cigarrillo.
The bald man lit another cigarette.
un calvo corpulento
a heavily built bald man
Having combed through the main noun uses of calva and calvo, it’s time to turn to its commonest use as an adjective (whose ending naturally varies to agree in gender and number with the noun it describes).
If you describe someone or their head as calvo, you mean they are bald.
Siempre usa una gorra roja para esconder su calvicie, aunque todo el mundo sabe que es calvo.
He always wears a cap to hide his baldness, although everyone knows he’s bald.
aquellos preocupados por la posibilidad de quedarse calvos
those who are worried about the possibility of going bald
un hombre calvo de aspecto amable
a kind-looking bald man
El ave habría confundido su cabeza calva con una roca.
The bird had taken his bald head for a rock.
If you describe something as calvo, you mean it lacks a covering of some kind – bare (or sometimes bald):
el monte calvo
the bare mountain
QUIZ TIME
Which of the underlined words to do with hair and hair styles do you know?
- Angela lucía un nuevo peinado.
- una chica de pelo corto y rubio
- Se fue a cortar el pelo a una peluquería cercana.
- Filmamos una escena en una barbería.
- Su cabello es largo y gris.
- Tiene cabello largo ondulado, con flequillo.
- Su cabello ondulado, un poco despeinado por la brisa, está recogido en la nuca, en un vistoso moño.
- Tiene un corte de pelo severo con los lados afeitados.
- El rostro posee rasgos delicados y la melena cae a ambos lados y se posa sobre los hombros.
- Me plancho el pelo.
- Se la describe como bajita, de piel bronceada y cabello negro, atado en una trenza.
- Tiene un cabello pelirrojo casi naranja.
ANSWERS
- Angela had a new hairstyle.
- a girl with short blonde or fair hair
- She went to have her hair cut in a nearby hairdresser’s salon.
- We filmed a scene in a barber’s.
- His hair is long and grey.
- She has long, wavy hair, with a fringe.
- Her way hair, slightly ruffled by the breeze, is gathered at the nape of the neck in a showy chignon or bun.
- He has a severe haircut with shaven sides.
- Her face has delicate features and her long hair falls on either side on her shoulders.
- I’m straightening my hair.
- She’s described as being short, with a tan and black hair, tied in a braid or plait.
- He has red hair verging on carroty orange.
To brush up on the similarities and differences between some more similar-looking Spanish words, join us again next week.
