Tiny difference on paper, big difference in reality

Question

I came across the word cabrío in a book I was reading to better learn Spanish. I typed cabrio in the dictionary and found the definition to be a beam or timber for building. This made no sense in the context so I looked back to find that I had typed cabrio instead of cabrío. Cabrío means billy-goat which was what the author had intended in the book. Now for the question, what are some other words where a tiny written difference has a huge difference in meaning?

Excellent thread idea. - SonrisaDelSol, Jun 16, 2011

"difference" - NickDan, Jun 16, 2011

Tc84: I hope you don't mind my edit. I just fixed "difference" in the title. - SonrisaDelSol, Jun 16, 2011

One would think that since English is my native language I would be able to spell better. - tc84, Jun 16, 2011

It's a difficult word to spell, don't worry :D - SonrisaDelSol, Jun 16, 2011

Very good question:) - FELIZ77, Jun 16, 2011

Excellent question! - danrivera, Jun 22, 2011

Answer 1

Two words that immediately spring to mind - both verbs - are:

1 abrazar = to embrace, to hug, to clamp

2 abrasar = to burn, to set on fire

So girls and guys if you want to ask your girl/boy-friend to give you a hug please make sure you choose the correct verb lol

Yes, one of my favorites. - pesta, Jun 16, 2011

Yeah, but if you use the seseo the sound the same. - BellaMargarita, Jun 16, 2011

Yes I realize that so you would have to use accompanying body language to clarify your request lol - FELIZ77, Jun 17, 2011

Hmm, sometimes "to embrace, hug" is synonymous with "set on fire" (what's that song? "Come on baby, light my fire ..."?? - Lector_Constante, Jun 22, 2011

Rofl@Lector hahahaha Iw ouldn't want my baby to take it that literally lol - FELIZ77, Jun 22, 2011

jejejeje - 001a2987, Jun 22, 2011

Answer 2

Here are some that I am aware of:

está (he/she is) - esta (that-feminine)

estás (you are) - estas (those - feminine)

sé (I know) - se (a reflexive pronoun)

inglés (english) - ingles (groins)

año (year) - ano (anus)

What you must remember is that in Spanish these words are not similar; the pronunciation is different. If you are finding it difficult to differentiate between the words then you know your pronunciation is off.

Answer 3

Invierno=winter Infierno=Hell

That made for some fun times in Spanish class. =)

I also really love words that mean one thing in one language, and a totally DIFFERENT thing in other languages.

eg.

Mahal Kita = I love you in Tegalag But... Kita = ...something vulgar in Croatian...

Either one of these categories of words can make for an awkward conversation if posted on Facebook and taken incorrectly by a friend or two.

Much like embarasada and embarased in Spanish and English. - tc84, Jun 16, 2011

Mind you for some people who dont like cold weather there's not much difference between the two as winter can seem like hell to them lol - FELIZ77, Jun 16, 2011

Answer 4

mamas = breast

mamás = mothers

Answer 5

Here's one that is changed by a small difference in pronunciation, pero and perro. Perro meaning dog has a distinctly rolled rrrr. Pero mean but, has a very slightly rolled rr.

True. - tc84, Jun 16, 2011

These are called "tap r" and "trilled r" - margaretcorwin, Jun 16, 2011

Answer 6

oh... and a very common mix up....

sólo = only (yo sólo quería decirte... - I just wanted to tell you)

solo = alone (me siento solo - I feel alone)

Notice how important spelling and punctuation gets when the word changes by only a tilde.

But the tilde is only required when the meaning would be ambiguous. And the pronounciation of these is the same. - pesta, Jun 16, 2011

Good examples DJ :) - FELIZ77, Jun 22, 2011

I've heard different on that pesta... some say it's necessary to decipher between the two, and others say what you say. =\ - DJ_Huero, Jun 22, 2011

Gracias Feliz =) - DJ_Huero, Jun 22, 2011

Answer 7

Tengo miedo de:

Casada / casado - married Cansada / cansado - tired

Tengo que pensar en esto cada vez!

Yes great examples I especially like the cansado and casado examples they can produce some very funny results :) Sadly, for some couples the two words are synonomous - FELIZ77, Jun 22, 2011

Answer 8

Yay, now how do I change my name to Cabrío?

In this case you need to delete the suffix, "ío" from "Cabrío" and replace with "ón." ja,ja - 005faa61, Jun 16, 2011

LOL!! and you would let me do that too, wouldn't you ! I'm going to tell Heidita on you ;-) - billygoat, Jun 17, 2011

Answer 9

mama = suck

mamá = mother

Good one - tc84, Jun 16, 2011

Answer 10

Coño and cono. In some countries coño is a bad word and in other countries it is just an expression of exasperation and means nothing bad. Cono without the tilde is a cone.

Good to know. - tc84, Jun 16, 2011

Siempre estoy buscando palabras nuevas para expresar la exasperación. Recuerdo generalmente solamente ' ¡vaya! ' - Jmarie, Jun 16, 2011

Answer 11

I often get mixed up (mostly while listening to the radio, where the context helps me straighten it out) "creer"-to believe and "crecer"-to grow.

Answer 12

I can think of many with one letter difference for example adelante (foward, go ahead as a command) adelanto( preview, advance) quedar (to have left among other things) quemar (to burn) quejarse (to complain)

Some verbs have different endings but the same stems vender to sell vendar to bandage sentar to sit sentir to feel. creer to think to believe crear to create.