Homonyms in Spanish The difference between homophones and homographs in Spanish

Have you ever wondered why there are words in Spanish that sound the same but have different meanings and are used in different contexts? This linguistic phenomenon is called homonymy, and there are different types: homophones and homographs. These three types of words are complicated, but once you understand them, it's piece of cake!

If you need help understanding how this linguistic phenomenon works because you are starting to learn Spanish in Spain and many words sound the same to you, but you don't know their meaning according to the context, this is the article for you! We will help you understand these three types of words with definitions and examples so that you can use them and sound like a true native speaker.

You can also read this article in Spanish, French, Italian or Dutch.

What are homonyms in Spanish?

Homonyms in Spanish are words that are pronounced the same but have different origins or meanings. For example: haya and aya; vaya and baya; or votar and botar. Other examples would be banco (bench/bank/fish) or llama (verb/animal/fire).

Within Spanish homonymy, several types of words can be distinguished depending on whether they are spelled the same, their pronunciation varies, or they have different meanings. However, you should not confuse them with Spanish polysemous words, which we explained in another article.

Types of homonyms in Spanish:

• Homophones in Spanish: words that sound the same as another word but have a different meaning and may be spelled differently. Ex. Tubo and tuvo.
• Homographs in Spanish: words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. Ex. Vino (wine) and vino (Spanish verb venir).
• Perfect homonyms: words that are spelled and sound the same. Ex. Sal (salt) and sal (Spanish verb salir).

Homophones and homographs are types of Spanish homonyms, meaning that they all share the same pronunciation or spelling but have different meanings. Keep in mind that all these words in Spanish are pronounced the same but may or may not be spelled differently and used in different contexts. Let's see what differentiates them so you don't confuse them.

Difference between Spanish homonyms, homophones, and homographs

The main characteristic of these types of words is that they always have different meanings, even though they aren’t pronounced or spelled the same. Depending on the context, you will be able to identify their meaning.

Differentiating between these types of words can be challenging, but we will try to explain it as best as possible with this table:

It should be noted that in modern Spanish, the pronunciation and spelling of most words are the same, meaning that there is no significant difference in their pronunciation. Therefore, pronunciation tends to match spelling, although there are some exceptions.

Although extremely rare, there may be cases where Spanish words of foreign origin, technical terms, or regionalisms sound different from how they are written. For example: práctico and practico. The word is homographic, it is written the same (although one has an accent and the other does not), but the stressed syllable changes and it is pronounced differently. This is a very specific case and one of the few where a homograph has different pronunciations due to its accent.

Examples of homonyms in Spanish

Remember that homonyms words in Spanish sound and/or are spelled the same but have different meanings:

Capital:

• La capital de España es Madrid (The capital of Spain is Madrid)
• Necesito capital para invertir en mi negocio (I need capital to invest in my business)

Cura:

• El cura dio misa el domingo (The priest said Mass on Sunday)
• Esa infección se cura con antibióticos (The infection will be cured with antibiotics)

Banco:

• El banco me otorgó un préstamo (The bank gave me a loan)
• Nos sentamos en el banco del parque (We sat on the bench in the park)
• Vimos un banco de peces en el estanque (We saw a shoal of fish in the pond)

Llama:

• La llama escupió al turista (The llama spat at the tourist)
• La llama del fuego se apagó con el viento (The flame of the fire was extinguished by the wind)
• Llama a tu hermana que va a llegar tarde (Call your sister, she's going to be late)

Frente:

• El frente de la casa tiene ventanas grandes (The front of the house has large windows)
• El frente de batalla estaba bien defendido (The front of the battle was well defended)
• El flequillo le tapa la frente (Her fringe covers her forehead)

Here are some other homonyms in Spanish that you may come across: gato (cat/vehicle tool); cola (tail/line of people) or clave (key/central idea).

Examples of homophones in Spanish

Homophones words in Spanish always sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings.

Rebelar/Revelar:

• El pueblo decidió rebelarse contra las injusticias (The people decided to rebel against injustice)
• Va a revelar su secreto mañana (He is going to reveal his secret tomorrow)

Grabar/Gravar:

• Voy a grabar una canción nueva el viernes (I'm going to record a new song on Friday)
• El Gobierno decidió gravar los productos importados (The government decided to tax imported products)

Basta/Vasta:

• Basta ya de hacer ruido, por favor (Please, stop making noise)
• Una vasta llanura se extiende hasta el horizonte (A vast plain stretch to the horizon)

Haya/Halla:

• Ojalá haya comida en la nevera cuando lleguemos (I hope there is food in the fridge when we get there)
• Si buscas bien, hallarás la respuesta (If you look carefully, you will find the answer)

Vaca/Baca:

• La vaca pasta en el campo (The cow grazes in the field)
• Subieron las maletas en la baca del coche (They put the suitcases in the roof rack of the car)

Other very common homophones in Spanish are: tuvo/tubo; cayó/calló; votar/botar; honda/onda; rayar/rallar; hola/ola, haber/ a ver, etc.

Examples of homographs in Spanish

Finally, homographs in Spanish are words that are spelled the same, have different meanings, and, in very rare cases, can sound different due to accent.

Practico:

• El médico me dijo que practico buenos hábitos (The doctor told me to practice good habits)
• El móvil es muy práctico para los viajes (Cell phones are very practical for traveling)

Toco:

• Toco la guitarra todas las noches (I play the guitar every night)
• Cerca del río crece un árbol llamado toco (Near the river grows a tree called toco)

Bajo:

• Bajó del bus en la última parada (He got off the bus at the last stop)
• El sótano está situado bajo el edificio (The basement is located under the building)

Nada:

• Nada lo detuvo en su camino (Nothing stopped him on his way)
• Mi primo nada en el río todas las tardes (My cousin swims in the river every afternoon)

Vino:

• Me gusta más el vino tinto que el vino blanco (I like red wine better than white wine)
• El técnico vino a mi casa a arreglar la fuga de agua (The technician came to my house to fix the water leak)

Here are some more common homographs in Spanish: tomo (Spanish verb tomar/volume of a book); como (Spanish verb comer/conjunction); lima (city/fruit/manicure tool); listo (ready/clever); canto (Spanish verb cantar/edge of something).

Although it may seem very confusing at first and you may find it difficult to understand this type of phenomenon, homonymous words in Spanish are very common, and you will end up using them without even realizing it. Your adventure in learning Spanish has just begun, so don't stop and keep practicing in places where the language is spoken, such as Spain.

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