How can I remember the difference between the word capó and baúl?

Question

How can I remember the difference between the word capó and baúl? I always forget which one is the trunk and which one is the hood!

Before rememebering those words, remember to capitalize the beginning of a sentence in English. The personal pronoun, "I" is always capitalized! Let's give a good example to our students of English on this site. - 002262dd, Dec 29, 2010

Accent marks count in Spanish, too. Capo is a mafia boss. - KevinB, Dec 29, 2010

Answer 1

I usually come up with either a mnemonic or mental picture. I don't use either of those words for car parts, but it's regional. If I were going to use them, I might think that baúl sounds like bowel, which would make me think of the back end, which would make me think of a car trunk. Sorry if that's too graphic, but that's how good mental pictures work.

In reality, you don't have time to go through that chain of reasoning while holding a conversation. I'd just say and/or write a zillion sentences using the words until they stuck in my head.

Answer 2

You can develop your own methods of remembering. Plenty of words mix me up, but these two don't.

Baúl is a trunk or wardrobe. My mother-in-law had an expression that used this word that described a woman who was "dressed to the nines." Translated, it meant, she was wearing her whole closet.

Capo sounds like "cap," something that opens from the top. That would be the hood.

Yours is much more polite than mine. That probably says something about the person who thought of them. - KevinB, Dec 29, 2010