What is the difference between agujero and hoyo?

Question

What is the difference between agujero and hoyo?

Answer 1

Hoyo is a hole and many times the choice between the two words when the hole is large.

Agujero is a hole, usually smaller than Hoyo, and can be things other than a hole.

In certain cases only one of the two can be used, ie, "The holes in my shoes for my shoe laces are too small" ..... "Los agujeros en mis zapatos para las agujetas son demasiado pequeños." To use "hoyos" in this case would sound rediculous.

Also if you had a boat with a hole allowing water to leak in, you would call this hole "agujero" and not "hoyo."

I am not a grammarian, but I am guessing that "Agujero" and "Aguja" (needle) come from the same root. They are both small.

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I've never been very good at translating word-for-word, so after thoughts usually appear well after the fact, but it just occured to me that "Agujero" is a hole that goes completly through something, like a hole in a sweater and a hole in the ground doesn't usually go completely through and so it makes perfect sense that this hole would be "Hoyo."

I have actually heard "hoyitos de mis zapatos" in Puerto Rico, referring to the holes for the shoelaces. - 002067fe, May 18, 2011

"Hoyitos" can also be "Dimples" but in PR nothing would surprise me - 005faa61, May 18, 2011

Well explained! - lazarus1907, May 18, 2011

Um...what is that "in PR nothing would surprise me" comment supposed to mean? - 002067fe, May 18, 2011

Julian-What? Language-wise or otherwise???? - kiersten11, May 18, 2011

Answer 2

I was very intrigued by Julian's answer, since that doesn't quite match with the uses I am familiar with for those words. I mean, "un agujero negro" is a pretty darned big hole, after all. And as Tom says, to the the expression "hoyito" is very familiar , meaning small hole.

Now what the RAE has to say about it is even more surprising to me!

hoyo.

1. m. Concavidad u hondura formada en la tierra.
2. m. Concavidad que como defecto hay en algunas superficies.
3. m. sepultura (? hoyo para enterrar un cadáver).
4. m. sepultura (? lugar en que está enterrado un cadáver).
5. m. hoyuelo (? hoyo en el centro de la barba o en la mejilla).

Agujero. (De aguja).

1. m. Abertura más o menos redondeada en alguna cosa.
2. m. Deuda, falta o pérdida injustificada de dinero en la administración de una entidad.
3. m. Fabricante o vendedor de agujas.
4. m. alfiletero (? canuto para alfileres). ~ negro.
5. m. Astr. Lugar invisible del espacio cósmico que, según la teoría de la relatividad, absorbe por completo cualquier materia o energía situada en su campo gravitatorio.
6. m. Econ. Grave pérdida financiera en una empresa o institución, sobre todo cuando se trata de mantenerla oculta

Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados

So apparently, then, "hoyo" should in fact be used to refer to a concavity. But if it goes all the way through, then it becomes "agujero" (you definitely got that one right, Julian).

I don't think most people make that distinction - I certainly don't - but it is good to know!

Am I missing something then? Why are people saying "nothing surprises me about PR" in such a casual way? Are Puerto Ricans supposed to be "dumber" than others? I missed the memo, man... :-( - 002067fe, May 18, 2011

Please read my PM. I have modified my answer . Thank you Tom. - Gekkosan, May 18, 2011

For the record: It was not my intention to offend a nationality. I have made comments about how weird the Spanish from Spain and from Mexico can be to me - meaning the particular slang used in those countries, and not at all related to the intelligence... - Gekkosan, May 18, 2011

...of my Mexican, Spanish, or Puerto Rican friends. I mean, the things that Heidita posts in her Mystery threads sometimes are completely alien to me, even though we both supposedly speak the same language! - Gekkosan, May 18, 2011

I meant to make fun of that fact, that we have a common language, but its usage can be *so very different!* But I retire my comment, understanding how it can be read as offensive. My apologies to Tom and any other Boricuas.. - Gekkosan, May 18, 2011

.. that may have taken exception to my remarks. - Gekkosan, May 18, 2011

I read your PM, thanks for at least being so cool about the whole thing. People tend to dismiss these types of concerns, saying things like "get over it!" and I'm glad that you were mature enough to see what my point was. Big hug! - 002067fe, May 18, 2011

Answer 3

agujero sustantivo masculino

1 hole hacer un agujero - to make a hole

A ver si salimos de este agujero. - Let’s see if we can get out of this hole.

2 (Finanzas) deficit un agujero de 500 millones de euros - a deficit of 500 million euros

LOC
agujero de la capa de ozono - ozone hole

agujero negro - black hole

hoyo sustantivo masculino

1 hole

hacer/cavar un hoyo - to dig a hole

un campo de nueve hoyos - a nine-hole course

2 (sepultura) grave

Answer 4

link

Apparently there is some difference of opinion.

Answer 5

Agujero has its own verb, "agujerear". Hoyo doesn't have its own verb, you have to "cavar un hoyo" or "hacer un hoyo". I can't remember a situation where "agujero" can not be changed for "hoyo", but I'm not completely sure they are the same

Answer 6

What if the hole in your heart goes all the way to China?

Hmmmm....then you'd be dead, yeah? XD - kiersten11, May 18, 2011

That'd be some sort of heartbreak syndrome, or full emotional meltdown. - Gekkosan, May 18, 2011

Answer 7

...and what about 'tener tomates en los calcetines'

We say potatoes where I come from !. - faliron, May 18, 2011

Answer 8

Agujero, roto, hoyo, boquete...pretty much the same.

Answer 9

Hiya

Just wanted to join this thread as I also wanted to know the difference between the two words for hole

I will remember it like this hoyo...sounds like hollow and that is what a hoyo appears to be...a hollow area be it big or small and in some parts of Spain the double ll is replaced by the y sound so I only need to remember agujero!

Hope that helps!

Answer 10

is hole in the ground, agujero en la tierra? because chicanos in texas seem to think so, and thats the way I use it and google images shows holes in ground for agujero

Well, that's the thing. That's the way I think about it, too. But the RAE seems to think that it's only "agujero" if it goes all the way through! - Gekkosan, May 18, 2011

Answer 11

And which word will you use when referring to the heart defect where the is a hole in the septum that divides the heart chambers?

Perforación del Tabique Interventricular - Gekkosan, May 18, 2011

Answer 12

they´re the same .... they´re  synonymous ...