# Same noun, two genders, two meanings

> id: grammar.nouns.gender-meaning-change · category: grammar · depth: standard · levels: B1 · review: internally_reviewed

**Summary.** El capital (money) / la capital (city); el orden (sequence) / la orden (command); el cura (priest) / la cura (cure); el frente (front) / la frente (forehead).

A small set of nouns means two different things depending on its gender — the article you choose changes the word. Key pairs: el capital ('money, capital') vs la capital ('capital city'); el orden ('order, sequence') vs la orden ('command, religious order'); el cura ('priest') vs la cura ('cure').

More of them: el frente ('front', as in weather or battle) vs la frente ('forehead'); el corte ('cut') vs la corte ('court'); el cometa ('comet') vs la cometa ('kite'); el papa ('the Pope') vs la papa ('potato', the standard Latin American word).

These aren't exceptions to reason around — they're simply pairs of distinct words that happen to share a spelling, so learn each meaning with its gender.

## Examples
- Santa Cruz no es la capital, pero concentra el capital. — Santa Cruz isn't the capital, but it concentrates the capital (money).
- El médico me dio la orden de descansar. — The doctor gave me the order to rest.
- Pusimos los nombres en orden alfabético por orden del jefe. — We put the names in alphabetical order on the boss's orders.

Related: grammar.nouns.gender-basic

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