It’s that time again when we map out the commonest uses of a pair of similar-looking Spanish words. Today’s duo are plano and plana.
Starting with plano (masculine), you can listen to how it’s pronounced here:
Un plano is a two-dimensional scale representation designed to inform the construction of something or else to reveal its layout. It may be a plan of a building or machine or a map or (street) plan of a town or area:
El hotel fue reconstruido de acuerdo con los planos originales.
The hotel was rebuilt in accordance with the original plans.
Ferdinand Porsche realizó los planos y diseños del automóvil.
Ferdinand Porsche executed the plans and designs for the car.
Aparecía en planos y guías de la ciudad.
It appeared on maps or street plans and guides relating to the city.
En 1814 actualizó y publicó un nuevo plano topográfico de Buenos Aires y sus alrededores.
In 1814 he updated and published a new topographical map of Buenos Aires and the area around it.
In geometry un plano is a flat surface in which a straight line joining any two points on it is entirely on that surface – a plane:
Se encuentra sobre el eje X y es paralelo al plano vertical.
It’s on the X-axis and is parallel to the vertical plane.
El nuevo radar puede moverse en el plano horizontal y vertical.
The new radar can move in both the horizontal and the vertical planes.
Plano is also used figuratively to refer to a particular level or plane of something:
la idea de que el arte puede transcender la vida de cada día, alcanzando un plano espiritual
the idea that art can transcend daily life, attaining a spiritual level or plane
Plano can be used to direct attention to a particular sphere, arena or perspective too; here the translation varies according to the context:
Llegó a destacar en el plano internacional por sus dotes futbolísticos.
He ended up making his mark internationally thanks to his football talents.
En el plano deportivo el equipo madrileño mantiene una rivalidad amistosa con varios clubes.
Sports-wise or With regard to sports, the Madrid team maintains a friendly rivalry with a number of clubs.
Fue alentado en el plano artístico por su tía.
He was encouraged artistically or on an artistic level or in terms of art by his aunt.
En el plano personal, tiene una novia llamada Jennifer.
On the personal front, he has a girlfriend called Jennifer.
In television and cinema, un plano is a piece of unbroken filming from a single camera; in photography it is the way something is photographed or framed – a shot:
La película termina con un plano general de la isla.
The film ends with a wide shot of the island.
Este plano nos permite aislar en la fotografía una sola figura, descontextualizándola de su entorno.
This shot lets us capture a single figure in isolation in the photograph, decontextualizing it from its surrounds.
Turning to plana (feminine), you can listen to how it’s pronounced here:
Una plana is each of the faces of a sheet of paper, whether written or printed on or not – a page or side:
en la última plana de nuestro semanario
on the last page of our weekly magazine
La noticia salió en todas las primeras planas de los diarios.
The news was on all the newspaper front pages.
En cada plana hay a lo menos 35 renglones.
On each page or side there are at least 35 lines.
Una plana is also occasionally a large flat area of land – a flatland or plain (though llanura is a far more common word for this):
los montes que dominan la plana aluvial del Turia
the mountains which dominate the Turia’s alluvial plain
Plano together with its inflections (plana, planos and planas – to agree with the noun it qualifies) is also an adjective used to describe something that is level, smooth and even rather than bumpy, sloping or undulating – flat:
El techo de la torre era originalmente plano.
Originally the roof of the tower was flat.
un televisor de pantalla plana
a flat-screen TV
Vestía sandalias planas de color blanco.
She was wearing flat(-soled) white sandals.
La compañía cobra una tarifa plana.
The company charges a flat rate.
DID YOU KNOW?
Llano is another adjective derived from the same Latin root as plano, and it too can mean flat (among other things). Llano tends to be used more of natural landscapes:
El terreno por lo general es llano.
The terrain is generally flat.
Es un área relativamente llana.
It’s a relatively flat area.
Related to llano is the noun llanura (feminine), the usual word for a plain or prairie:
Las llanuras de inundación y los cursos de agua son un punto importante para aves acuáticas que anidan e inviernan.
Flood plains and watercourses are an important place for nesting and overwintering water birds.
To smooth out the differences between some more similar-looking Spanish words and discover how they are used, come back next week.
