We aren’t exactly branching out this week as we’re again disentangling a pair of similar-looking Spanish nouns with different endings and genders to see if we can twig their differences in usage. This week’s duo are ramo (masculine) and rama (feminine).
Starting with rama (feminine), you can listen to its pronunciation here:
Una rama is one of the boughs or offshoots that grow out of the trunk of a tree or the main stem of a plant and typically bear leaves, blossom or fruit; in other words it’s a branch:
El loro saltó a una rama contigua.
The parrot hopped onto a nearby branch.
Sonaba otra vez el viento en las ramas de los eucaliptos.
The wind was whistling though the eucalyptus branches again.
La brisa movió las ramas del olivo.
The breeze shook the branches of the olive tree.
Buscaron ramas e hicieron un fuego.
They fetched branches and made a fire.
Se me ocurrió que aquello era una rama de olivo.
It occurred to me that was an olive branch.
Like branch in English, una rama can also refer to a particular line of a family sharing common ancestry:
Fundaron la rama norteamericana de la familia al emigrar a EE.UU.
They started the North American branch or side of the family when they emigrated to the USA.
las cuatro ramas de su tronco familiar
the four branches of their family tree
Equally, una rama can be the kind of branch that is a subcategory, area or part of something:
las diversas ramas de la ingeniería
the different or various branches of engineering
El estudio de la historia de la agricultura, como el de cualquier rama de la historia económica, puede ser emprendido a partir de dos ángulos diferentes y complementarios.
The study of the history of agriculture, like that of any branch of economic history, can be approached from two different and complementary angles.
Moving on to ramo (masculine), you can listen to its pronunciation here:
Un ramo is a number of cut flowers or herbs gathered together at the stems. It might be a bunch or a bouquet in English:
un ramo de rosas amarillas
a bouquet of yellow roses
Regálale un ramo de flores.
Give her a bunch of flowers.
un ramo de violetas
a bunch of violets
Cogió un ramo de romero.
He picked a bunch of rosemary.
Un ramo can also refer to a particular industry, sector, area or business:
empresas dedicadas al ramo de la panadería y fideería
companies specializing in the bread- and pasta-making business
Se está utilizando ya en diferentes empresas del ramo de la alimentación.
It’s already being used in various companies in the food industry.
en el ramo de la hostelería
in the hospitality sector
Ramo (masculine) can also be used to refer to a tree branch, particularly a secondary one or one that’s broken off, or else to a branch of a subject or field), but it’s less commonly used this way than its feminine counterpart:
La oposición dijo no al ramo de olivo que el presidente les ofreció.
The opposition said no to the olive branch offered to them by the president.
en todos los ramos de la administración pública
in all branches of the civil service or of public administration
DID YOU KNOW?
A word that is closely related to ramo is ramillete (also masculine), which means a little bunch or a posy.
Se casó con un tradicional vestido de novia, con velo y ramillete de flores.
She got married in a traditional wedding dress complete with veil and posy of flowers.
To talk about a branch in the sense of a local office, you use una sucursal:
en una sucursal madrileña del Banco Popular
in a Madrid Branch of the Banco Popular
For more tips on the commonest senses of similar-looking Spanish nouns with different endings and genders, come back next week.
