el tornillo
“el tornillo” — wood screw in Spanish. Noun, level A2, topic — home and things. One word for screw, bolt and machine screw; only technical talk separates el perno. Hence el destornillador, the screwdriver — literally an unscrewer. Le falta un tornillo — he's missing a screw — means he's not right in the head. In a live sentence: “Se ha soltado un tornillo de la silla” — A screw has come loose on the chair. You can hear how it sounds right here.
In short
| Written in Spanish | el tornillo |
| Translation | wood screw |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- el tornillowood screw
Why it looks that way
One word for screw, bolt and machine screw; only technical talk separates el perno. Hence el destornillador, the screwdriver — literally an unscrewer. Le falta un tornillo — he's missing a screw — means he's not right in the head
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Se ha soltado un tornillo de la sillaA screw has come loose on the chair
Nearby words: home and things
Room, key, water, electricity. You will need them on your first day in a rented flat.
- la casahouseEn casa without the article means at home; en la casa means inside the specific building. Your ear learns the difference
- la viviendahousingFrom vivir, to live. The official word for housing: listings, contracts, the news
- la habitaciónroomThe h is silent: ah-bee-tah-SYON
- la cocinakitchenThe kitchen, the stove and the skill of cooking in one word: cocinar is to cook
- el bañobathroomThe ñ is a soft ny: BAH-nyoh
- el balcónbalconyEnglish borrowed balcony from the same root. Stress on the last syllable
- la plantafloor (story)A floor of a building. Careful: in Spain el piso is a flat, not a floor — Latin America has it the other way round
- el ascensorelevatorThe sc is a plain s: ah-sen-SOR
- la escalerastairsStairs in a building and a stepladder. Por la escalera — on foot, no elevator
- la mesatableAny table: dining, desk, or the one at a bar
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “home and things”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “wood screw” in Spanish?
One word for screw, bolt and machine screw; only technical talk separates el perno. Hence el destornillador, the screwdriver — literally an unscrewer. Le falta un tornillo — he's missing a screw — means he's not right in the head
- How do you say “floor (story)” in Spanish?
A floor of a building. Careful: in Spain el piso is a flat, not a floor — Latin America has it the other way round
- How do you say “room” in Spanish?
A room and a hotel room. All -ción words are feminine
- How do you say “table” in Spanish?
Any table: dining, desk, or the one at a bar
- How do you say “balcony” in Spanish?
English borrowed balcony from the same root. Stress on the last syllable
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “wood screw” in Spanish?
«el tornillo». In a live sentence: “Se ha soltado un tornillo de la silla” — A screw has come loose on the chair. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2, from the set “home and things”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
One word for screw, bolt and machine screw; only technical talk separates el perno. Hence el destornillador, the screwdriver — literally an unscrewer. Le falta un tornillo — he's missing a screw — means he's not right in the head. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.