Spanish Speakers: Create vs Believe
June 30, 2023 5:51 AM Subscribe
The Spanish verbs for "Create" (creer or creerse) and "Believe" (crear) look pretty similar to me. In fact, "Yo creo" could mean either "I believe" or "I create".
To English speakers, I believe we look at these words as having quite distinct meanings: believing in something is not something we look at as having primarily creative action; likewise if we create something it does not imply that we believe in it.
Is the situation different for native Spanish speakers?
You have the translations mixed up. And I would say no, they are not seen as any more related than they are in English.
Also, I feel like using "yo crea" for "I create" is kind of odd construction in Spanish. I would be more likely to say "Estoy creando". Maybe if it were a habitual thing (I generally create art, not "I create" as narrating what I'm doing right now)..but I think that construction is infrequent enough that it's just not a thing. The words are different. The meanings are different. I don't think they're seen as related.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:03 AM on June 30, 2023 [2 favorites]
Also, I feel like using "yo crea" for "I create" is kind of odd construction in Spanish. I would be more likely to say "Estoy creando". Maybe if it were a habitual thing (I generally create art, not "I create" as narrating what I'm doing right now)..but I think that construction is infrequent enough that it's just not a thing. The words are different. The meanings are different. I don't think they're seen as related.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:03 AM on June 30, 2023 [2 favorites]
Also "believe" (e.g. "I believe you") and "believe in" ("I believe in you") are distinct meanings.
Interestingly enough Spanish (or at least Mexican Spanish) has exactly the same distinction as English, with the same particle!: "creer" and "creer en," e.g. "te creo" and "creo en ti"...although it can get a little fuzzy in everyday speech.
posted by migrantology at 6:05 AM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
Interestingly enough Spanish (or at least Mexican Spanish) has exactly the same distinction as English, with the same particle!: "creer" and "creer en," e.g. "te creo" and "creo en ti"...although it can get a little fuzzy in everyday speech.
posted by migrantology at 6:05 AM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
While I'm sure poets and others have exploited the potential ambiguity of the creo/creo homograph, the words come from separate Latin roots (compare creer with the English credence, both from Latin credere, versus create/crear from Latin creare), so it really is a surface resemblance. I don't think Spanish speakers would give it more thought than English speakers would pairs like evening (twilight)/evening (levelling) or lead (to direct)/lead (the metal).
posted by wreckingball at 6:13 AM on June 30, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by wreckingball at 6:13 AM on June 30, 2023 [10 favorites]
To add on to what others have said--there are probably hundreds of thousands of homonyms across the world's languages that are dependent on context for meaning and unless you have the type of personality/brain that enjoys puns and playing around with languages, I doubt that people give them a second thought.
There's nothing unique about "creer" and "crear" and to a Spanish speaker the fact that the first-person present conjugation is the same wouldn't even register. The root verbs themselves aren't even homonyms, after all.
posted by rhymedirective at 6:42 AM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
There's nothing unique about "creer" and "crear" and to a Spanish speaker the fact that the first-person present conjugation is the same wouldn't even register. The root verbs themselves aren't even homonyms, after all.
posted by rhymedirective at 6:42 AM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
the words are not related despite looking similar.
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:34 AM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:34 AM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
As others have said a word that means two different things is not that uncommon, but I wanted to note that you are definitely not the first person to trip over that particular one. I’m not sure what it is about that word, but the dual meaning just seems wrong for some native English speakers.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:47 AM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:47 AM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Many thanks to all: sometimes it is hard to work out the nuances of how words like this translate. (Personally, I think the idea of viewing some acts of belief as a creative process, is a really interesting one on a philosophical level. In English was talk about straining our credulity to believe somebody occasionally; but nothing beyond that. Anyway - clearly distinct roots and intention in Spanish. )
posted by rongorongo at 8:21 AM on June 30, 2023
posted by rongorongo at 8:21 AM on June 30, 2023
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You actually have the translations mixed up.
posted by LionIndex at 5:57 AM on June 30, 2023 [8 favorites]