Tomato, Avocado, and Canoe: American Words in Spanish | Spanish B1
Read about three Spanish words with Nahuatl or Taíno origins. Practise B1 Spanish with etymology, synonyms, and dictionary vocabulary.
Tomate, aguacate y canoa: palabras americanas del español
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About this article
What you'll learn
B1 vocabulary for etymology and dictionaries, present-tense verbs, synonyms, and questions.
This article explains that tomate and aguacate come from Nahuatl, while canoa has Taíno origin. It also presents palta and avocado as synonyms of aguacate.
After reading
Article learning block
Phrases, words, grammar, and quick practice from this text.
Phrases for training
Add useful phrases to SRS or mark them as already known.
la misma lengua de origen
newthe same language of origin
Lengua de origen names the language a word comes from. Misma means same.
Useful for comparing the origins of words.
una embarcación de remo
newa rowing boat
Embarcación means boat, and de remo describes a boat moved with oars.
Useful for describing transport on water.
otra parte de su historia
newanother part of its history
Otra means another, and su refers to the word.
Useful for discussing words and history.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
Etymology
etimología
etymology
Etimología is the study of where a word comes from.
Useful when using a dictionary.
Origin
origen
origin
Origen is where something, including a word, comes from.
Useful for discussing history and language.
Synonyms
sinónimos
synonyms
Sinónimos are words with the same or a very similar meaning.
Useful for learning new vocabulary.
Includes
recoge
recoge
Here recoge means includes information in a dictionary.
Useful for talking about what a dictionary contains.
Boat
embarcación
boat
Embarcación is a vehicle used on water.
Useful for travel and transport vocabulary.
Oar
remo
oar
A remo is an oar used to move a boat through water.
Useful for describing boats.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
Present: Indica
El Diccionario de la lengua española indica el origen de una palabra.
The Dictionary of the Spanish Language indicates the origin of a word.
Indica is the third-person singular present form of indicar. It agrees with El Diccionario.
Useful for describing what a source says.
Proceder de
Tomate procede del náhuatl tomatl.
Tomato comes from the Nahuatl word tomatl.
Procede is the third-person singular present form of proceder. Use proceder de to state origin.
Useful for explaining where a word comes from.
Present: Recoge
El diccionario también recoge palta y avocado como sinónimos de aguacate.
The dictionary also includes palta and avocado as synonyms of aguacate.
Recoge is third-person singular present. Its subject is el diccionario.
Useful for saying what a dictionary includes.
Tener Origen
Canoa tiene origen taíno.
Canoa has Taíno origin.
Tiene is from tener. Tener origen plus an adjective or noun states where something comes from.
Useful for explaining origin.
Cuando and Puedes
Cuando buscas la etimología de una palabra, puedes descubrir otra parte de su historia.
When you look for a word's etymology, you can discover another part of its history.
Cuando introduces a time or repeated situation. Puedes plus an infinitive expresses possibility.
Useful for connecting actions and possibilities.
Question: Conoces
¿Conoces una palabra de origen americano?
Do you know a word of American origin?
Conoces is the tú form of conocer. Spanish questions use opening and closing question marks.
Useful for asking about what someone knows.
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