cajón
/kaˈxon/masculine
The Spanish word for drawer is cajón. Wiktionary also lists gaveta.
Meaning: open-topped box in a cabinet used for storing (noun)
Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| cajón | /kaˈxon/ /kaˈʃon/ (Early, Modern, Spanish) |
masculine |
| gaveta | /ɡaˈbeta/ | Canary Islands, Cuba, Venezuela, feminine |
A drawer is an open-topped box in a cabinet used for storing.
Which one should you use?
cajón is the standard term for a drawer used throughout most of the Spanish-speaking world.
Is it said differently in some regions?
gaveta is a common regional term for drawer in Cuba, Venezuela and the Canary Islands.
How does it change in a sentence?
cajón is a masculine noun that is preceded by the article el. The plural of cajón is cajones, and the plural of gaveta is gavetas.
How do you pronounce it?
/kaˈxon/
Did you know?
- In some musical contexts, a cajón is not a piece of furniture but a popular percussion instrument from Peru. It is a wooden box that musicians sit on while playing it.
- In some Latin American contexts, cajón can be used colloquially to refer to a coffin.
- The Spanish word caja and its derivative cajón share a distant ancestor with the English word 'capsule'.
Examples in context
- Lo metí en el cajón.I put it in the drawer.This sentence is useful for how to use cajón.Tatoeba #692724 by Shishir, translation #42572 by blay_paul
- Abrí el cajón de arriba.I opened the top drawer.Tatoeba #6842365 by arh, translation #6841638 by CK
- Echaremos esto en el cajón.We'll throw this into the drawer.Tatoeba #2270084 by cueyayotl, translation #2270083 by _undertoad
- ¿Puedes poner el libro en el cajón?Can you put the book in the drawer?
- Abre la gaveta y toma el bolígrafoOpen the drawer and take the pen
- 41 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Daniel and Elena are organizing the kitchen.
- Daniel¿Dónde pongo las cucharas, Elena?Where do I put the spoons, Elena?
- ElenaPonlas en el cajón de abajo.Put them in the bottom drawer.
- DanielVale, ya las guardo en el cajón.Okay, I'm putting them in the drawer now.
- ElenaGracias, Daniel, ahora ya está ordenado.Thanks, Daniel, now it is tidy.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “drawer” translations and entries cajón, gaveta, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
