So which potentially confusable Spanish nouns are up for anaIysis this week? Marco (masculine) and marca (feminine) are in the frame.
You can listen to how marco is pronounced here:
If you have pictures and photos at home, some of them will doubtless be in un marco, because it is a frame:
un retrato al óleo del presidente en un marco de oro
an oil painting of the president in a gold frame
un marco para fotos
a photo frame
doce espejos en sus marcos de roble barnizados
twelve mirrors in their varnished oak frames
Other types of marco (frame) are found round doors and windows:
con la cabeza apoyada en el marco de la puerta
with his head leaning against the doorframe
La tía Elena estaba en el marco de la puerta.
Aunt Elena was standing in the doorway.
Una rama golpeó en el marco de su ventana.
A branch knocked against the frame of his window.
If you talk about el marco of an event or structure, you mean the environment or scenery around it, the setting:
El marco elegido fue el restaurante El Amparo, cerrado para el acontecimiento.
The setting chosen was the El Amparo restaurant, closed for the event.
una población de origen ciudadano que se instala en un marco campestre
an originally urban population which moves to a rural setting
Un marco is also the underlying structure marking the limits and boundaries of something – a framework:
el nuevo marco regulador
the new regulatory framework
se establecerá un nuevo marco administrativo
a new administrative framework will be established
In texts about the past, you may come across marco meaning mark, as in the former currency and coin of Germany among other countries:
el marco alemán y el florín holandés
the German mark and the Dutch florin
Moving on to marca (feminine), you can listen to how it is pronounced here:
Una marca can be a mark unintentionally left on something or deliberately made on it to identify it in some way:
Apenas dejó marcas en el suelo.
It hardly left a mark on the ground.
unas marcas de neumáticos encontrados en el campo en el que apareció el cadáver
some tyre marks found in the field where the body showed up
una marca indeleble, como un tatuaje o una cicatriz
a permanent mark such as a tattoo or a scar
Hizo una marca con tiza en la caja.
She made a chalk mark on the box.
Fotografíe las joyas y haga marcas en los aparatos electrónicos para dificultar su venta.
Take photos of jewellery and make marks on electronic equipment to make selling them difficult.
La marca is also a name under which something is marketed: its make, brand, label or occasionally trademark:
Es una marca muy mala.
It’s a very bad make.
una marca de dentífrico
a brand of toothpaste
Su vino se vende principalmente a las grandes marcas del Penedès.
His wine sells mainly to the big Penedès labels or brands.
Una marca registrada se escribe generalmente con mayúsculas iniciales.
A registered trademark is usually written with initial capitals.
In sport, una marca often means a record:
Intentará batir la marca en Zurich el próximo miércoles.
She will try to beat the record in Zurich next Wednesday.
Hizo una marca de 1 minuto y 16 segundos.
She set a record of 1 minute 16 seconds.
Superó su marca personal.
He beat his personal best.
In other competitive situations, una marca can also be a score or time, depending on the context:
Marcó la vuelta más rápida mejorando en casi un segundo su marca del día anterior.
He recorded the fastest lap, improving his previous day’s time by almost a second.
Join us again next week as we continue marking the differences between pairs of similar-looking Spanish nouns.
