gato de interior
/ɡato de inteɾjoɾ/from spelling rules
In Spanish, the phrase for indoor cat is gato de interior.
The phrase gato de interior refers to a cat that lives exclusively inside a house or building. In many Spanish-speaking regions, gato de casa is a more common, colloquial way to describe a house cat.
Which one should you use?
To refer to an outdoor cat, replace 'interior' with 'exterior' to say gato de exterior.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase changes gender to match the cat: use gata de interior if the cat is female. To make the phrase plural, change gato to gatos, resulting in gatos de interior.
How do you pronounce it?
/ɡato de inteɾjoɾ/
Did you know?
- In certain Spanish-speaking contexts, the word gato can refer to a mechanical jack used to lift cars, a term completely unrelated to the feline.
- While gato means 'cat', it is also a colloquial term in Mexico City for a person born in the capital.
- In some Spanish-speaking regions, the word gato is a homonym that can refer to a 'cake', which is a borrowing from the French word gâteau.
Examples in context
- ¿Prefieres un gato de exterior o un gato de interior?Do you prefer an outdoor cat or an indoor cat?
- Él es un gato de interior y no sale de casa.He is an indoor cat and does not leave the house.
Example conversation
Sofía and Daniel are talking about their pets.
- Sofía¿Tu mascota sale al jardín?Does your pet go out to the garden?
- DanielNo, mi mascota es un gato de interior.No, my pet is an indoor cat.
- SofíaEs más seguro para él así.It is safer for him that way.
- DanielSí, así evitamos muchos problemas.Yes, that way we avoid many problems.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, gato, interior, CC BY-SA 4.0.
