letras
/letɾas/from spelling rules
The English phrase 'letters' is translated into Spanish as letras.
letras is used to refer to the characters of an alphabet.
Which one should you use?
The word letras refers to characters of the alphabet, whereas cartas is used for letters sent by mail.
How does it change in a sentence?
The singular form of letras is letra.
How do you pronounce it?
/letɾas/
Did you know?
- If you are studying 'Letras' in a university, you are actually studying the Humanities, such as literature or philosophy, rather than mathematics or science.
- In Spanish, the word letra can also mean the 'lyrics' of a song. If you want to ask for the lyrics to a melody, you would ask for its letra.
- The phrase al pie de la letra literally means 'at the foot of the letter'. It is used to describe following instructions exactly or taking something literally.
Examples in context
- ¿Cuántas letras hay en el alfabeto?How many letters are there in the alphabet?Tatoeba #1361012 by marcelostockle, translation #67289 by CK
- El alfabeto arrumano tiene 33 letras.The Aromanian alphabet has 33 letters.Tatoeba #7921801 by Seael, translation #13045961 by araneo
- Me cuesta leer las letras en el monitor.It's hard for me, reading letters on the monitor.Tatoeba #1508600 by marcelostockle, translation #1122383 by cntrational
- 35 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Alejandro and Elena are discussing a spelling error in a notebook.
- AlejandroFaltan algunas letras en esta palabra.Some letters are missing in this word.
- Elena¿En qué parte de la palabra?In which part of the word?
- AlejandroAl principio, las letras no están claras.At the beginning, the letters are not clear.
- ElenaTienes razón, lo voy a corregir.You are right, I am going to correct it.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
