taza de té
/taθa de te/from spelling rules
In Spanish, the English phrase tea cup is translated as taza de té.
The phrase refers to a small cup used for drinking tea. While taza is the general word for a cup and is often used for both tea cups and coffee cups, you can add de té to be specific.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of taza (cup), de (of) and té (tea).
Which one should you use?
Taza is the general term for a cup, whereas taza de té specifically identifies a tea cup. If you are referring to a larger-sized cup that resembles a bowl, you might use the informal term tazón de té.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Spain, the word taza is commonly used to refer to a tea cup. In the Andalusia region of Spain, pocillo is used specifically for a smaller-sized tea cup.
How does it change in a sentence?
To make the phrase plural, you change taza to tazas while té remains singular, resulting in tazas de té.
How do you pronounce it?
/taθa de te/
Did you know?
- The Spanish word té is a linguistic doublet of the word cha, as both words for the same beverage entered the language from different Chinese dialects.
Examples in context
- Pásame la taza de té, por favor.Pass me the tea cup, please.
- La taza de té está sobre la mesa.The tea cup is on the table.
- ¿Dónde pusiste mi taza de té?Where did you put my tea cup?
- Necesito una taza de té nueva.I need a new tea cup.
Example conversation
Sofía and Alejandro are in the kitchen during the afternoon.
- SofíaAlejandro, ¿has visto mi taza de té?Alejandro, have you seen my tea cup?
- AlejandroCreo que está en el lavaplatos.I think it is in the dishwasher.
- SofíaNo, no está ahí.No, it is not there.
- AlejandroAh, la encontré debajo del sofá.Ah, I found it under the sofa.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, taza, té, CC BY-SA 4.0.
