harina

ah-REE-nah

flour?cooking and baking

Also:meal?coarsely ground grain like cornmeal,powder?referring to a substance ground into very fine particles

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Necesito comprar un kilo de harina para hacer pan.

I need to buy a kilo of flour to make bread.

Mezcla la harina con los huevos y la leche.

Mix the flour with the eggs and the milk.

Hay diferentes tipos de harina, como la de trigo o la de maíz.

There are different types of flour, such as wheat or corn flour.

ser harina de otro costal – to be a completely different matter or a different story
meterse en harina – to get down to work or fully involve yourself in a task

This word is feminine, so you should always use feminine words with it, like 'la harina' or 'mucha harina'.

The 'h' at the beginning is completely silent. It sounds exactly like it starts with the letter 'a'.

Mistake: "Pronouncing it as 'jarina'."

Correction: The 'h' is silent in Spanish. Pronounce it as /ah-ree-nah/.

In Spanish, we usually talk about flour by weight (kilos/gramos) or by container (tazas/cups) because it is a substance we don't count individually.

Question 1 of 2

What does the expression 'Eso es harina de otro costal' mean?

harinar(to sprinkle with flour) - verb

enharinar(to coat in flour) - verb

harinoso(floury or mealy) - adjective

Do I pronounce the 'H' in harina?

No, the 'H' in Spanish is always silent. You should start the sound with the 'a'.

How do you say 'whole wheat flour'?

You say 'harina integral'.