Friday, 19 February 2016

Carretera

Today's word is: Carretera
Clase: sustantivo (noun)
Género: femenino (feminine)
Origen: latín (Latin)

In Spanish, “carretera” is a feminine noun of Latin origin which means road or highway. A typical example of the use of the word “carretera” is:
  • Esa carretera tiene muchas curvas (that road has lots of bends)


In Spanish, the noun “carretero* is a related word meaning a male cartwright. A typical example of the use of the word “carretero” is:
  • Pedro es carretero (Pedro is a cartwright)


Spanish expressions with the word “carretera” or related words are:
  • Asistencia en carretera (roadside/ breakdown assistance)
  • Bicicleta de carretera (road bike -pedal bike)
  • Carretera afirmada (unpaved compacted dirt road/gravel road)
  • Carretera asfaltada (paved road/ tarmac road)
  • Carretera con peajes (toll road)
  • Carretera de aceso (access road)
  • Carretera de aceso limitado (restricted/ limited access road)
  • Carretera de peaje (toll road)
  • Carretera de cuota (toll road -Latin America)
  • Carretera en obras (road under construction/ maintenance -roadworks)
  • Carretera forestal (forestry road/ track)
  • Carretera general (main road -long distance/ interstate)
  • Carretera nacional (main road -long distance/ interstate)
  • Carretera comarcal (secondary road)
  • Carretera con muchas curvas (winding road – a road with lots of bends)
  • Carretera cortada (closed road)
  • Carretera cortada por obras (closed road due to roadworks)
  • Carretera de circunvalación (ring road)
  • Carretera local (local road)
  • Carretera secundaria (secondary road)
  • Carretera sin afirmar (unpaved uncompacted dirt road)
  • Carretera sin asfaltar (unpaved road/ dirt road)
  • Carretera y manta (leave immediately/ just leave! -see notes below**)
  • Ciclismo de carretera (road cycle racing -sport)
  • Ciclismo en carretera (road cycle racing -sport)
  • Cruce de carretera (crossroads/ road junction)
  • Fumar como un carretero (to chain smoke/ smoke like a chimney)
  • Hablar como un carretero (to use a coarse language/ to talk like a sailor***)
  • Jurar como un carretero (to use a coarse language/ to talk like a sailor***)
  • Luz de carretera (headlights -full beam)
  • Moto de carretera (road bike -motorbike)
  • Salirse de la carretera (to come/ go off the road)
  • Tramo de carretera (stretch of road)
    • Algunos tramos de esa carretera están en muy mal estado (some stretches of that road are in a really poor state)
  • Transporte por carretera (road freight/ road haulage/ road transport)


Notes


*The feminine form of this noun, i.e.: “carretera should be used when referring to a female cartwright.

The noun “carretero” is often used to refer to an uncouth or foul mouthed person -see expressions above***.

** As a typical use of this expression, imagine you want to summarily dismiss or eject someone from somewhere. Basically, you want to tell the person in question to gather his/ her belongings and just leave. In Spanish, you could say: recoge tus bártulos y carretera y manta.




Love-Spanish.com loves the word "carretera" in the YouTube clip: Julio Iglesias - La Carretera - "HQ"


For more on the word "carretera", visit: Wordreference.com/es/en/ Ccarretera

*NB 'Click' on the speaker icon next to the word carretera”in the link to hear the word pronounced.

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