Nouns with different meanings depending on the gender
What are some nouns that have different meanings depending on the gender? For example:
el cura - priest
la cura - cure
6 Answers
I'm pulling this out of the book 1001 Pitfalls in Spanish by Marion P. Holt and Julianne Dueber. I need to review this too so maybe typing them for you will help.
- el capital = capital (money)
- la capital = capital (city)
- el canal = tv channel
- la canal = gutter
- el cometa = comet
- la cometa = kite
- el cólera = cholera
- la cólera = anger
- el corte = cut, edge
- la corte = court
- el frente = front
- la frente = forehead
- el moral = mulberry tree
- la moral = moral
- el orden = order (arrangement), (law and) order
- la orden = order (command)
- el pendiente = earring
- la pendiente = slope
- el pez = fish
- la pez = pitch, tar
- el tema = theme, topic
- la tema = fixed idea, mania
- el coma = coma
- la coma = comma
- el policía = policeman
- la policía = police (force)
- el guía = guide (person)
- la guía = guide (book)
Great question. Good luck remembering those.
el pato - duck...la pata - paw
(here's a cute slang: "la pata salada" - slang for going barefoot near the ocean...the first time I heard it I thought maybe someone was talking about a salted duck!!)
Also - el libro - the book...la libra - the pound
El Caballo - the horse La Caballa - the mackerel
la ordén; a mandate versus el ordén; sequence, condition, lots of other meanings, see this site
carga 
I remember learning the cólera means "cholera" (the movie had just come out, which was why I learned the word) when masculine, but "rage" or "anger" if feminine.
cólera (2nd meaning from Gran Diccionario Oxford)
femenino: rage, anger; Descargó su cólera en mí = She vented her anger (or) rage on me;
montar en cólera = to fly into a rage
