Spanish Words of the Week: Unpacking Copo and Copa

This week, we delve into another intriguing pair of Spanish nouns, similar in form yet distinct in usage: the masculine copo and the feminine copa. Despite their shared linguistic roots, their meanings take different paths.

Let’s start with copo (masculine), a less common word. You can listen to its pronunciation here:

Frequently found in the phrase copo de nieve (snowflake), un copo refers to a flake or anything resembling one:

• Desapareció como un copo de nieve al sol.
  "It disappeared like a snowflake in the sun."
• Por la noche, los primeros copos cayeron sobre la Sierra Nevada.
  "The first snowflakes fell on the Sierra Nevada during the night."

Other uses include:

• copos de jabón — "soap flakes"
• los copos de patata deshidratados — "dried potato flakes"

Moving on to copa (feminine), which is far more common and whose pronunciation can be found here:

While both un vaso and una copa translate to "glass," there’s a key distinction. Un vaso usually refers to a simple glass, whereas una copa has a stem, giving it a touch of elegance:

• Regresó con una bandeja de plata y dos copas.
  "She returned with a silver tray and two glasses."
• mesas cubiertas de copas vacías
  "tables covered with empty glasses"

Una copa can also refer to the liquid within:

• Bebió su copa de un sorbo.
  "He downed his glass in one gulp."
• Ana había bebido dos copas sin respirar.
  "Ana had knocked back two glasses without stopping to breathe."

When socializing, you might go for una copa (a drink) with friends:

• Vamos a tomar una copa juntos.
  "Let’s have a drink together."
• Te invito a tomar una copa.
  "Let me get you a drink."

In addition, una copa can signify a more ornate vessel, like a goblet or a trophy:

• una copa de cristal tallado — "a cut-glass goblet"
• la copa del mundo — "the world cup"

Reflecting its shape, copa also denotes the "cups" in a bra or the hollow part of a hat, known as the crown:

• cómo calcular la talla y copa del sujetador que te convenga
  "how to work out the measurement and cup size of the right bra for you"
• ¿Cómo se mide la copa de un sombrero?
  "How do you measure the crown of a hat?"

Interestingly, un sombrero de copa is a top hat:

• si se saca un conejo de un sombrero de copa
  "if you pull a rabbit out of a top hat"

When referring to la copa of un árbol (a tree), it means the branches and leaves that spread out from the trunk—the tree’s crown or top:

• El sol se perdía detrás de las copas de los árboles.
  "The sun was disappearing behind the treetops."

Did you know?

Just as una taza de café can refer to either a cup of coffee or a coffee cup depending on context, una copa de vino/champán might mean either a glass of wine/champagne or a wine/champagne glass.

• Tiré una copa de vino y manchó el mantel.
  "I knocked over a glass of wine, and it stained the tablecloth."
• un juego de copas de vino
  "a set of wine glasses"

In traditional Spanish card decks, copas (goblets or cups) form one of the four suits, alongside oros (gold coins), espadas (swords), and bastones (clubs or cudgels). By contrast, the deck featuring clubs, spades, hearts, and diamonds—tréboles, picas, corazones, and rombos—is known as la baraja francesa (the French deck).

Come back next week to explore another set of nouns that change their meanings based solely on gender and ending!