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Spanish Word of the Day Archive
Wednesday October 31, 2007
fondo, noun:
end; bottom
Fondo has two main meanings, end and bottom, so it’s another interesting case where Spanish uses one word, and English two.
El fondo de la cazuela estaba todo quemada.
The bottom of the pan was all burnt.
en el fondo del mar
at the bottom of the sea
From its idea of being at the bottom of something, en el fondo is used to say how you really think or feel:
Mayormente, en el fondo, los divorciados son siempre grandes románticos.
Generally, divorced people are great romantics deep down or great romantics at heart.
The other main meaning of fondo is end:
Mi habitación esta al fondo del pasillo.
My room is at the end of the corridor.
Notice that the phrase al fondo de is the exact parallel of at the end of in structure.
To help you remember the link between the two meanings, both are the most distant point of something, but one is thought of horizontally, =end, and the other vertically, = bottom.
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