On the workbench today are two more similar-looking Spanish nouns with different endings, genders and meanings. These are madera and madero. Let’s split apart their differences.
Starting with the feminine madera, you can hear how it’s pronounced here:
A construction material derived from trees, la madera means wood (or, particularly in building contexts, sometimes timber/lumber):
Está hecho casi íntegramente de madera.
It’s almost entirely made of wood.
El banco es de madera.
The bench is made of wood.
Se sentaban a las mesas de madera.
They sat down at the wooden tables.
Predomina el acero inoxidable y las maderas barnizadas.
Stainless steel and varnished woods predominate.
Sometimes madera is used to refer to a piece of wood:
Vas a un almacén, compras unas maderas y fabricas una mesa.
You go to a store, buy some pieces of wood and make a table.
Musically, las maderas (plural) means woodwind or the woodwind section:
El repertorio de obras sirve para indicar para qué son y qué hacen las cuerdas (violín, viola, celo, contrabajo, etc.) y las maderas (flauta, oboe, clarinete, fagot, etc.).
The repertoire is used to show what the strings (violin, viola, cello, double bass, etc) and woodwind (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon) are for and what they do.
Turning to the masculine madero, you can listen to how it’s pronounced here:
In construction, un madero is a long, solid piece of wood, usually with a square or oblong cross-section. In this sense it is likely to translate as a timber, a piece of timber or sometimes a beam:
Tienen que recoger sus maderos y construirse sus propias viviendas.
They must collect their timber and build their own homes.
Alternatively un madero can just be a piece of wood:
Aprenderás a frotar dos maderos hasta incendiarlos.
You will learn how to rub two pieces of wood together till they catch fire.
Varias ventanas han sido tapiadas con maderos.
Several windows have been boarded up with pieces of wood.
In mainland Spanish slang, un madero is an uncomplimentary word for a police officer:
El barrio está lleno de maderos.
The area is full of pigs or cops.
QUIZ TIME
In the following, can you find the wood and the trees?
Se sentará de nuevo ante la gran mesa de pino.
una mesa de caoba
El olmo es un buen árbol de sombra y de excelente madera.
Tenían marcos de roble barnizados.
Cogió un abrecartas de ébano.
una caja de cedro
un armario enorme de nogal
El olivo tarda varios años en producir.
Se protegía bajo un haya.
las hojas y la corteza del fresno
Se sentará de nuevo ante la gran mesa de pino.
He will sit down again at the great pine table.
una mesa de caoba
a mahogany table
El olmo es un buen árbol de sombra y de excelente madera.
The elm is a good tree for shade and excellent wood.
Tenían marcos de roble barnizados.
They had varnished oak frames.
Cogió un abrecartas de ébano.
He picked up an ebony letter opener.
una caja de cedro
a cedarwood box
un armario enorme de nogal
a huge walnut wardrobe
El olivo tarda varios años en producir.
The olive takes several years to fruit.
Se protegía bajo un haya.
He was sheltering under a beech tree.
las hojas y la corteza del fresno
the leaves and bark of the ash
Join us next week as we cut through the different uses of some more similar-looking Spanish nouns.
