It’s that time again when we examine two similar-looking Spanish nouns along with those things which differentiate them – and we also go off topic. Today we’re looking at cosa (feminine) and coso (masculine).
Starting with cosa (feminine), you can hear how it’s pronounced here:
Cosa is probably one of the first words you’ll have come across in Spanish as it can be used of any unnamed or unidentified object, concept, activity, fact, event or matter, just like its English counterpart – thing:
Alex estaba recogiendo las cosas del desayuno.
Alex was clearing the breakfast things.
Hay muchas cosas que tienen el potencial de volverse adictivas.
There are many things that have the potential to become addictive.
Some combinations with cosa are equivalent to something or anything:
Siempre hay alguna cosa más que puedes hacer para aumentar tus probabilidades de éxito.
There’s always something else you can do to increase your chances of success.
¿Necesita alguna cosa más?
Do you need anything else?
Advirtió que el precio de cualquier cosa hecha con grano aumentaría.
She warned that the price of anything made from grain would rise.
Moving on to coso (masculine), you can listen to how it’s pronounced here:
Much less common than cosa, un coso can be an enclosed space where bullfights and sometimes other events are held. It might be a bullring, an arena or an enclosure:
La última corrida que se celebró en este coso se celebró en 1965.
The last bullfight to take place in this bullring or arena was in 1965.
Particularly in Southern Cone countries such as Argentina, un coso is an informal word for something whose name escapes you – a thingamajig, a whatsit or a what-do-you-call-it:
No encuentro el coso para hacer agujeros en papel.
I can’t find the thingamajig or whatsit or what-do-you-call it for making holes in paper.
DID YOU KNOW?
There are various other useful Spanish words for referring informally to things whose name you don’t know, can’t remember or can’t be bothered to say. Here are a few of them.
For a start there’s chisme (masculine), which can also mean gossip or a piece of gossip:
Necesito el chisme para purgar el radiador.
I need the thingamajig for bleeding the radiator.
Ella cree que los chismes son falsos.
She thinks the gossip or story is wrong.
Then there’s cosita (feminine), a diminutive of cosa, literally meaning little thing:
¿Y sigues diseñando aquellas cositas?
And are you still designing those thingamajigs?
Tengo que terminar una cosita.
I’ve just got something to finish.
Ustedes deben saber que cada cosita que dicen o escriben está siendo apuntada.
You should know that every little thing you say or write is being recorded.
Aparato (masculine), meaning a device or piece of equipment, is a useful non-specific word for any gadget or gizmo:
¿Cómo se llama este aparato?
What do you call this gadget or gizmo?
To learn about some other similar-looking Spanish words and how to use them, come back next week.
