Today we’re back counting up and setting out the differences in usage between more similar-looking Spanish nouns, and this time it’s a trio: costo, coste and costa.
You can listen to the pronunciation of each of these words below.
costo (masculine):
coste (masculine):
costa (feminine):
Especially in Latin America, el costo of something is the price that must be paid for it, whether in financial or other terms – its cost:
el costo del viaje
the cost of the journey
El costo de la alteración se proyectaba en 120.000 dólares.
The projected cost of the alteration was 120,000 dollars.
Esto ayuda a minimizar el costo de transporte del producto terminado desde la fábrica hasta el mercado.
This helps minimize the cost of transporting the finished product from factory to market.
Es una aerolínea de bajo costo.
It’s a low-cost or budget airline.
Esto tendría un costo humanitario.
This would have a humanitarian cost.
In Spain, people tend to use el coste instead to talk about the cost of something:
El coste total de la construcción se ha cifrado en casi 800 millones de euros.
The total cost of construction has been calculated at just under 800 million euros.
Deberán cubrir los costes adicionales.
They will have to cover the additional costs.
el enorme coste medioambiental del proyecto
the huge environmental cost of the project
Moving on to the feminine noun, la costa conjures up visions of cliffs, sea, seafronts and sand as it’s the place where the land meets the sea as well as the swathe of land that comes down to it – the coast or coastline:
El buque naufragó frente a la costa gallega.
The boat was wrecked off the Galician coast.
Se mudó allí para criar a sus hijos en la costa sur.
She moved there to bring up her children on the south coast.
La ruta sigue la costa sur.
The route follows the southern coastline.
Los bosques de manglares protegen la costa de las marejadas y los vientos.
The mangrove forests protect the coastline from high waves and winds.
Remember there’s an a in both costa and coast!
While costa normally means coast, it is also used in some set expressions with a meaning nearer that of its masculine lookalikes:
Finalmente los héroes salieron como ganadores pero a costa de la vida de Héctor.
Eventually the heroes emerged victorious but at the cost or expense of Hector’s life.
Trataron a toda costa de evitar involucrarse en el conflicto.
They tried their utmost or everything or at all costs to avoid getting involved in the conflict.
Quieren mantenerse en el poder a costa de lo que sea.
They want to remain in power no matter what.
And in law only, las costas are the fees that are awarded against one of the parties – the costs:
Fue condenado por el tribunal a pagar 30.000 euros en concepto de daños y perjuicios, más las costas judiciales.
The court ordered him to pay 30,000 euros in damages plus costs.
El periódico pagó las costas del juicio.
The newspaper paid the legal costs.
QUIZ TIME
Related to costo and coste are the verb costar and the adjective costoso. Can you complete the following examples with the correct form of the verb or adjective so that the English translation fits? But, be careful, costar changes its root in some persons and tenses.
- La casa había …………… 85.000 dólares. The house had cost 85,000 dollars.
- ¿Cuánto ……………. estos zapatos? How much are these shoes?
- La construcción …………….30 millones. The building work cost 30 million.
- Todavía me …………… creer que fui seleccionada como parte de este grupo. I still find it hard to believe I was selected for this group.
- un proceso lento y …………… a slow and costly process
ANSWERS
- La casa había costado 85.000 dólares. The house had cost 85,000 dollars.
- ¿Cuánto cuestan estos zapatos? How much are these shoes?
- La construcción costó 30 millones. The building work cost 30 million.
- Todavía me cuesta creer que fui seleccionada como parte de este grupo. I still find it hard to believe I was selected as part of this group.
- un proceso lento y costoso a slow and costly process
To explore the differences in usage between some more similar-looking Spanish words, come back next week.
