orilla del río
/oɾiʝa del ɾio/from spelling rules
The English phrase "river bank" is translated into Spanish as orilla del río.
Orilla del río refers to the land along the edge of a river. While orilla can refer to a river bank, it is also the standard word for the shore of a lake or the sea.
What does it mean word for word?
The word orilla literally means edge or shore.
Which one should you use?
The word ribera is a more specific synonym for a river bank or the area along a river.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Spain, ribera is used to indicate a river bank.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase uses the contraction del (de + el), which is the combination of the preposition of and the masculine article the.
How do you pronounce it?
/oɾiʝa del ɾio/
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking regions, the word orilla is used colloquially to describe the curb of a street or the edge of a sidewalk.
- The English word 'orle', used in heraldry to describe a border within a shield, is a distant linguistic relative of the Spanish orilla.
- While orilla describes the edge of any body of water, the word orilla is also used metaphorically in Spanish to mean the 'edge' or 'brink' of a situation, such as being on the 'edge' of a crisis.
Examples in context
- La orilla del río es un lugar tranquilo para disfrutar de la naturaleza.The river bank is a peaceful place to enjoy nature.
- Las orillas del ríoThe river banks
- Caminamos por la orilla del río.We walked along the river bank.
- Hay mucha vegetación en la orilla del río.There is a lot of vegetation on the river bank.
Example conversation
Elena and Daniel are planning a picnic in a park.
- Elena¿Vamos a la orilla del río para el picnic?Shall we go to the river bank for the picnic?
- DanielSí, es un lugar muy bonito.Yes, it is a very beautiful place.
- ElenaDaniel, ¿puedes llevar la manta a la orilla del río?Daniel, can you carry the blanket to the river bank?
- DanielClaro, yo me encargo de eso.Sure, I will take care of that.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries del, orilla, río, CC BY-SA 4.0.
