![[P]](http://cache.lexico.com/g/d/premium_mh.gif){kind=small}
Spanish Word of the Day Archive
Thursday November 29, 2007
fuerte, adjective:
sharp; heavy; intense
Fuerte is very common in Spanish. The commonest words in any language tend to have lots of meanings, and fuerte is no exception. Today we’re looking at three more of its major meanings, sharp, heavy and intense.
It’s often used with words describing rises and falls, such as aumento and caída:
una fuerte caída de las ventas
a sharp drop in sales
Hubo un fuerte aumento del déficit en octubre.
There was a sharp rise in the deficit in October.
When applied to losses, pérdidas, fuerte translates as heavy:
Las bolsas registraron fuerte pérdidas.
There were heavy losses on the stock market.
Fuerte also often applies to un dolor, a pain, when the translation can be either intense or bad:
Comenzó a sentir fuertes dolores en el vientre.
She started to feel intense pain in her stomach.
Content By
© HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2006. All rights reserved.