Fold: ¿doblar o plegar?

Question

I keep getting these words mixed up. How do you know when to use which one? Does anyone have a good way to remember? Just a few example sentences:

She was folding the laundry.
Fold the paper and put it in the envelope.
Bend your elbow.

Answer 1

"Doblar" is definitely a much more general term, with more uses.

I'd use "plegar" specially for:

paper, especially for binding or some craft work, as well as to fold maps.
folding anything articulated over itself, like an umbrella, a table, wings, or sails.
curtain, sheets or any other cloth, if you fold them rather accurately. For normal "home folding", better use "doblar".

Answer 2

Natasha said:

In Firefox, if I click "Reply to This," it does not generate the "cite / blockquote" code like it used to. Driving me crazy . .

Mine's working perfectly in Firefox. You have to wait for the tab at the top to stop loading. Try that. Failing that, try clearing your private data.

Answer 3

In Firefox, if I click "Reply to This," it does not generate the "cite / blockquote" code like it used to. Driving me crazy . .

Answer 4

Sally said:

Reply button still not working.

Which reply button are you referring to', or for the purist, to which reply button are you referring'

Answer 5

Reply button still not working.

Answer 6

Sally said:

Natasha said:

Reply button not working. Thank you very much, AiFoS, that is helpful. In your examples, plegar almost sounds more like "pleat" than "fold."

Pliegue = pleat

Answer 7

Natasha said:

Reply button not working.

Thank you very much, AiFoS, that is helpful. In your examples, plegar almost sounds more like "pleat" than "fold."

>

Answer 8

James Santiago said:

We do have articulated buses, but lorries never made the crossing. They're all trucks here.
Do we not also have the the phrase "tandem trucks"?

P.S. I actually like "articulated lorries" but for American listeners, I'd feel obliged to substitute "trucks" for "lorries"

Answer 9

We do have articulated buses, but lorries never made the crossing. They're all trucks here.

Answer 10

Thanks, Eddy. I found this on the web:

Answer 11

Natasha said:

Don't you have articulated lorries over there. Do we have WHAT''!!

An articulated lorry is a vehicle, mainly a very large cab with a trailer via a very large towing point. This allows the lorry to bend or fold when going around corners, hence the word articulate.
Articulate

Answer 12

Don't you have articulated lorries over there.

Do we have WHAT''!!

Answer 13

Natasha said:

Wow, Lazarus, you are stretching my English vocabulary. I had to look up "articulated" in the dictionary.

Thank you for the information. It helps to know that doblar is the more "everyday" term.

Don't you have articulated lorries over there.

Answer 14

Wow, Lazarus, you are stretching my English vocabulary. I had to look up "articulated" in the dictionary.

Thank you for the information. It helps to know that doblar is the more "everyday" term.

Answer 15

Reply button not working.

Thank you very much, AiFoS, that is helpful. In your examples, plegar almost sounds more like "pleat" than "fold."