What's the difference between "frase" and "oración"?

Question

I have heard the Spanish words "frase" and "oración" to mean "sentence" in English. Is there a difference between the two words? Are both equally correct?

And if I wanted to say, "Write at least six sentences," would it be: "Escribe al menos seis frases"??

Thanks!

Welcome to SpanishDict. - rac1, Dec 6, 2016

Answer 1

I've heard them used interchangeably. I prefer to use "frase" in order to mean "phrase" (but maybe that's the gringo in me?)

The difference is that "oración" can also mean "prayer". That's the main reason I separate the two words; one might get confused at the "Write at least six prayers down." However, this is because of my religious background.

As for your sentence, you can use both "frases" or "oraciones". I don't find fault in the translation you have. Good job!

Answer 2

In the discussion pages of a course I'm doing intended for Spanish speakers learning English "oración" is easily the more common word used for "sentence," but there could always be regional variation.

Good answer mate. - ray76, Dec 10, 2016

Answer 3

After doing some research, this is what I found:

An "oración" is a group of words syntactically independent; for some authors they can also be subordinate ones ("clauses") as well as main ones, but others prefer to use the word "proposición" for the subordinates, and "oración" only for the independent ones.

"Frase" can sometimes be translated as "phrase" (as in "frase hecha"), but it generally refers to a whole sentence, since - unlike "oraciones" - having a predicate is not essential.

The word phrase in English, on the other hand, is sometimes translated as "frase", but also "locución", "perífrasis", "sintagma", and "expresión"; all of them having a definite, distinct and precise meaning in Spanish, which I find hard to express in English sometimes.

The following words can have the following meanings in English

Frase -> sentence
Frase -> phrase
Frase -> clause
Oración -> sentence
Oración -> clause
Locución -> phrase
Locución -> preposition
Perífrasis -> phrase
Perífrasis -> modal verbs
Sintagma -> clause
Sintagma -> phrase

Good digging! - Daniela2041, Dec 7, 2016

Most textbooks use "oraciones" for sentences. - Daniela2041, Dec 7, 2016

Answer 4

Frase is used to refer to a phrase or a specific part of a clause whereas oración is used to indicate a sentence

So if you said to write 6 frases, potentially you may not get 6 complete sentences whereas by saying 6 oraciones it's more clear that you're referring to complete sentences

Your language levels would be a great help my friend would you supply them please. - ray76, Dec 10, 2016

fluent in both languages - nimi25, Dec 10, 2016

Thank you for filling pout your profile , that is worth a vote from me mate. - ray76, Dec 10, 2016