Almorzar versus Comer Almuerzo

Question

Is there a significant difference between almorzar and comer almuerzo in Spanish? By the dictionary they are about the same; translating to to have or to eat lunch. However, my Spanish tutor told me that almorzar could also be translated as to luncheon, which is more fancy English. Does the same hold true with almorzar in Spanish?

Answer 1

I think almorzar is to eat lunch and almuerzo is lunch. Don't judge me I am only in Spanish 2.

Answer 2

Almorzar means to have lunch.

Comer can be combined with other words to express eating a particular meal during the day. Example:

Comer or tomar (in Spain) el desayuno, el almuerzo, la merienda o la cena.

I hope this helps!

Answer 3

Julian said:

The verbs "desayunar," "almorzar," "comer," "cenar" are normally spoken without any other verb. ..... to use "comer" with any of them sounds very unnatural.

I agree! It sounds really strange to hear "comer desayuno!" You just need to say "Desayuné a las ocho" (I breakfasted (had breakfast) at eight).

Answer 4

The verbs "desayunar," "almorzar," "comer," "cenar" are normally spoken without any other verb. It is possible, however, to use "tomar" with each of these verbs after they have been conjugated to nouns (el desayuno, el almuerzo, la comida, la cena) but to use "comer" with any of them sounds very unatural. I can´t imagine you will ever hear this, at least among educated speakers of their own language.

And don´t waste your time with "lonche." This is spanglish.

Answer 5

Good question. I've always thought of them as the same, and used almorzar as the verb. But it depends on where you are. Around here (SoCal) comemos el lonche. We're barbarians, but lonche is (unfortunately) becoming very common in Latin America.