Antes is a simple basic word which means before. I was reminded this last week about an interesting complexity in the word for English speakers. Because it starts with an ‘a’ newer speakers of Spanish connect it with after.
I struggled with this when I was learning. I have heard two other non-native Spanish speakers make this mistake over the last few days. There is something very distinto between the meanings of antes and after. It can impact when visitors show up at your house, or how late or early you are going to be for an event.
Distinto means exactly what it sounds like, distinct. It is very often used in the way we use the word different. In Spanish there is the word diferente too, but it seems distinto is the preferred word.
I am sure there are some fine points as to when one would use diferente over distinto, but I have not figured it out yet. Please leave a comment if you know if there is a distinction.
Demás is usually seen in the phrase lo demás or los demás which means the others or the rest.
It is however also used as por demás to mean something useless.
And also as por lo demás meaning otherwise.
We see the word estimado used often when trying to butter up the shoppers in a store. They will say something like, “Estimado cliente…” That means esteemed client. It is used to show respect or value to a person or item.
Last night while reading some literature I came across a different use of the word. It was used to mean estimated, as in an estimated quantity. But an estimate, as in the price of work to be done, is presupuesto.
I see the word groserÃa quite often and it always makes me think of the English word gross which would mean something unpleasant. I always just thought this a coincidence and they meant different things until I started studying exactly what groserÃa meant.
GroserÃa is a lack of courtesy or respect. It is also a lack of refinement or unpleasant.
Besides unpleasant, gross also means vulgar or a lack of refinement. It carries other unrelated meanings as well.
Real has two meanings and they are very distinct from one another. The first is conveniently a direct correlation to the English word real, meaning something true or actual.
The second meaning is royal. Often I will look up words in my dictionary from the Real Academia Española.
Borrador is closely related to bosquejo and croquis that I have mentioned before. It is a rough draft or rough sketch.
When a man used the word this last week he was referring to a paper that he had just scribbled some thoughts on. He was going to type it up into something more readable for the rest of us. But his rough draft he called a borrador.
