el sombrero?
I am student teaching in a level 1 Spanish class right now. The textbooks, and the dictionary here say that sombrero can be translated simply to hat... however, from my understanding (and the understanding of a native speaker in my class) un sombrero is really a sombrero, the specific style of hat.
I know there are other words (and depending on the country) for other types of hats. However, is there value in teaching "sombrero"? Are there countries that use it as a general term for hat? Or is it an americanized spanish term that textbooks/dictionaries use as a coverall?
¡muchas gracias!
5 Answers
In England, if you say sombrero, you mean a sombrero type of hat. Claro?
We have no other way of indicating a large hat that gives shade, it's a sombrero. In English. It's most certainly not una gorra, which we might call a cap, or a baseball cap.
A warm wooly hat, which we wear in winter we call: a wooly hat. An unbecoming garment made of rubber, to keep off the rain is called a southwester .
So, at least for fashionistas, sombrero it's most useful term in both English and Spanish! And it's ever such a nice word, I think.
!
"Sombrero" does not only mean one specific style of hat.
Even in Curious George, the man in the big yellow hat wears "un gran sombrero de paja amarillo".
It is the generic term for a hat. See this site for pictures of sombreros.
- m. Prenda de vestir, que sirve para cubrir la cabeza, y consta de copa y ala.
The other type would probably be termed a Mexican sombrero.
Sombrero in English refers to a type of wide-brimmed hat originating in Mexico. In Spanish, however, it is the generic word for "hat", which originates from "sombra", meaning "shade".
I hear and use "gorra" much more on a daily basis. I think this is much more common in most Spanish speaking countries.
