Heather Broster
Heather is a graduate in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario and an aspiring polyglot. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction. When she isn’t studying languages, she enjoys the great outdoors, exercising and spending time with her young son.
Locura is a very common Spanish noun that covers all facets of madness, from mental illness to crazy acts of passion. Let’s take a look at how it is used in context! Latin American Pronunciation European Pronunciation Before we begin, it is worth stating that locura is a feminine noun, and takes the following definite …
The word for the substance we use to wash ourselves is jabón in Spanish, or soap in English. Latin American Pronunciation European Pronunciation Jabón, being a masculine noun, takes the following definite and indefinite articles: According to the Diccionario Etimológico Castellano En Línea, the word jabón comes from Late Latin sapo-onis, and sapo comes from …
If a Spanish woman tells you she is embarazada, she isn’t expressing embarrassment but rather announcing that she is expecting a child. That’s right, embarazada is the Spanish word for pregnant! Latin American Pronunciation European Pronunciation Embarazada is an adjective and the feminine past participle of the verb embarazar, meaning to impregnate. Está embarazada de tres meses. She is …
Today we’re going to be investigating a Spanish word that is both a tasty noun and an ice-cold adjective: helado. Its origin can be traced back to the Latin gelātus, the perfect passive participle of gelō (meaning “to freeze”). Latin American Pronunciation European Pronunciation Helado, as a noun, means ice cream. It is a cognate …
The word arcoíris is the combination of the words arco (meaning arch or bow) and iris (meaning rainbow in Latin, the language from which Spanish is derived). Latin American Pronunciation European Spanish Pronunciation There is some debate surrounding how to properly spell ‘rainbow‘ in Spanish. You’ll come across both arcoíris, written as one word with an accent on the í, …
The origin of the Spanish word bicicleta can be traced back to its components: bi-, a Latin prefix meaning two; kyklos, a Greek word signifying wheel; and -ette, a French diminutive. Latin American pronunciation European pronunciation Bicicleta is a feminine noun, so it takes the following definite and indefinite articles: Similar to the English word …