Inklingo

How to Say "tapes" in Spanish

English → Spanish

cintas

seen-tahs/ˈsintas/

nounA2general
Use 'cintas' when referring to adhesive strips like Scotch tape or measuring tools such as a measuring tape.
A coiled yellow measuring tape with a metal end, partially extended on a flat surface.

Examples

Pega el cartel con cinta adhesiva.

Stick the poster with adhesive tape.

Necesito dos cintas métricas para medir la habitación.

I need two measuring tapes to measure the room.

Encontré unas cintas de música viejas en el garaje.

I found some old music cassette tapes in the garage.

Using 'de'

To specify the type of tape, Spanish often uses 'cintas de...' (tapes of...). For example, 'cintas de video' means 'video tapes'.

grabaciones

/gra-ba-SYON-es//ɡɾaβaˈθjones/

nounA2general
Choose 'grabaciones' when talking about sound or video recordings, especially those made on older physical media like cassette tapes.
A classic microphone standing on a wooden desk next to a pair of large headphones.

Examples

Tengo viejas grabaciones de música en casetes.

I have old music recordings on cassettes.

Escuchamos las grabaciones del concierto.

We listened to the recordings of the concert.

Las grabaciones de seguridad muestran quién entró.

The security footage shows who entered.

Tengo muchas grabaciones viejas en mi teléfono.

I have many old recordings on my phone.

Making it Plural

To make 'grabación' plural, we add '-es' to the end. Since the word ends in a consonant (n), we need that extra 'e' to make it easy to say.

The Vanishing Accent

The singular word 'grabación' has an accent mark on the 'o'. When you make it plural ('grabaciones'), you take the accent mark away because the natural stress stays on the same part of the word.

The 'O' Accent

Mistake: “grabaciónes”

Correction: grabaciones (no accent mark)

Cintas vs. Grabaciones Confusion

Learners often confuse 'cintas' and 'grabaciones' because both can refer to physical media. Remember that 'cintas' is for adhesive or measuring tapes, while 'grabaciones' refers to recorded content.

Related Translations

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