carne picada de ternera
/kaɾne pikada de teɾneɾa/from spelling rules
The English phrase beef mince is carne picada de ternera in Spanish.
This phrase refers specifically to ground beef used as a cooking ingredient.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of carne (meat), picada (chopped/ground) and de ternera (of veal/beef).
Which one should you use?
While carne picada de ternera specifies the type of meat as beef, the shorter term carne picada is a more common way to say ground meat generally if the specific animal is already understood from the context.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Argentina, the term carne picada is predominantly used for minced beef. In most of Latin America, the term carne molida is used instead of carne picada to refer to minced meat.
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective picada must agree in gender and number with the noun carne. Since carne is feminine singular, the adjective is picada.
Did you know?
- The English word 'carnal', relating to the flesh, is a linguistic relative of the Spanish word carne.
- The term picada used in this phrase originates from the verb 'picar', which can also mean 'to peck' as a bird does.
- The word ternera is actually a derivative of the adjective tierno, meaning 'tender', because a calf's meat is considered much more tender than that of an adult cow.
Examples in context
- Quiero carne molidaI want beef mince
- ¿Tienen carne molida?Do you have beef mince?
- Sí, aquí tienes la carne molida de res frescaYes, here is the fresh beef mince.
- ¿Le gustaría el picadillo de carne?Would you like the beef mince?
- Sí, por favor, quiero el picadillo de carne con papas fritasYes, please, I would like the beef mince with French fries
- Necesito comprar carne picada de ternera.I need to buy beef mince.
- La receta lleva mucha carne picada de ternera.The recipe calls for a lot of beef mince.
- ¿Tienes carne picada de ternera en la nevera?Do you have beef mince in the fridge?
Example conversation
Alejandro and María are planning their dinner in the kitchen.
- AlejandroMaría, ¿compraste la carne picada de ternera?María, did you buy the beef mince?
- MaríaSí, la tengo en la bolsa.Yes, I have it in the bag.
- AlejandroPerfecto, la usaremos para las albóndigas.Perfect, we will use it for the meatballs.
- MaríaMe parece una buena idea.That sounds like a good idea to me.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries carne, de, picada, ternera, CC BY-SA 4.0.
