"photo" in seven languages
Meaningphoto
Spanish
foto
/ˈfoto/
fem.learned
Feminine despite the -o: la foto.
French
photo
/fɔto/
fem.learned
Italian
foto
/ˈfɔto/
fem.learned
plural: foto
Invariable: una foto, due foto.
Portuguese
foto
/ˈfɔtu/
fem.learned
Romanian
poză
/ˈpozə/
fem.other source · French pose 'pose'
Fotografie (short: foto) is the neutral word; poză is what people say.
Catalan
foto
/ˈfɔtu/
fem.learned
English
photo
/ˈfoʊtoʊ/
from Latin/French · short for photograph, an English coinage from Greek
English → ItalianphotofotoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The ancestor
Greek phōs, phōtós‘light’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
A photograph is 'light-writing'. All three sisters clipped the long word and kept its feminine gender, so Spanish and Italian say la foto although it ends in -o.
English relatives: photograph, photon, photosynthesis
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¿Nos haces una foto?
- frTu peux nous prendre en photo ?
- itCi fai una foto?
- ptVocê tira uma foto da gente?
- roNe faci o poză?
- caEns fas una foto?
- enCan you take a photo of us?
More in Ideas
- safety, securityseguridadsécuritésicurezzasegurançasiguranțăseguretat
- sceneescenascènescenacenascenăescena
- statement (public declaration)declaracióndéclarationdichiarazionedeclaraçãodeclarațiedeclaració
- ability, capacitycapacidadcapacitécapacitàcapacidadecapacitatecapacitat
- collectioncoleccióncollectioncollezionecoleçãocolecțiecol·lecció
- materialmaterialmatériaumaterialematerialmaterialmaterial