Here we go: a chance to put to bed the differences between another pair of similar-looking but differently used Spanish nouns. This time it’s the turn of manto (masculine) and manta (feminine).
Let’s start with the feminine, manta, whose pronunciation you can listen to here.
Often made of wool or cotton and rectangular in shape, una manta is a covering you can use to keep yourself warm either in bed or out of it. It’s a blanket:
Me tapé con la manta y me volví a quedar dormido.
I covered myself up with the blanket and went back to sleep.
Acércame esa manta; siento frío, mucho frío.
Pass me that blanket; I’m cold, really cold.
Le puso a ella sobre los hombros una manta de lana.
He put a woollen blanket round her shoulders.
Tiene una manta escocesa para taparse las rodillas.
She has a tartan rug to cover her knees.
In some parts of Latin America manta can be a heavy cotton material:
un traje de manta negra
a black cotton suit
Moving on to the masculine, manto, you can listen to its pronunciation here:
Un manto is a garment – a cloak, mantle or ceremonial gown, depending on the context.
Llevaba un manto color azafrán.
She was wearing a saffron-coloured cloak.
Used figuratively, as it often is, un manto can be a mantle or blanket:
si rehusamos ponernos el manto del liderato
if we refuse to take on the mantle of leadership
un copioso manto de nieve
a thick blanket or mantle of snow
un manto de silencio
a blanket or mantle of silence
Queda excluido del manto protector de la OTAN.
It’s excluded from the blanket or mantle of protection provided by NATO.
In geology, el manto de la Tierra or el manto terrestre is the Earth’s mantle, a layer of rock and ice between the core and the crust. Un manto can also a layer or stratum:
las propiedades de la corteza y del manto terrestre
the properties of the crust and of the earth’s mantle
los mantos de carbón
the coal strata
DID YOU KNOW?
In the first part of this blog post we looked at manta (blanket). Can you identify and translate other items associated with bedtime below?
Tanto las sábanas como la colcha eran de color blanco.
Escondió el rostro en la almohada.
Posé la maleta sobre la cama de hierro, todavía sin colchón.
Le habíamos regalado un edredón (nórdico).
Hay que cambiar la ropa de cama.
ANSWERS
Tanto las sábanas como la colcha eran de color blanco.
Both the sheets and the bedspread were white.
Escondió el rostro en la almohada.
She hid her face in the pillow.
Posé la maleta sobre la cama de hierro, todavía sin colchón.
I put the suitcase on the iron bed, which was still without a mattress.
Le habíamos regalado un edredón (nórdico).
We had given him a duvet.
Hay que cambiar la ropa de cama.
We need to change the bedclothes.
Join us again next week as we continue ironing out the differences in meaning between pairs of similar-looking Spanish nouns.
