Same noun, two genders, two meanings

Erklärung

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.

Beispiele

Verwandte Regeln

• Every noun has a gender