Denotative and connotative words

Words can have multiple meanings. These in many occasions have to do with the different meanings that each of the words that have we usually use, but in others this meaning goes a step further to offer a metaphorical sense of the herself. This certainly enriches the language. In this lesson from a TEACHER we will see what are denotative and connotative words. We will also show you some examples of them so that you can understand the difference between them.

First of all, in order to understand the meaning of denoting and connotative words, we must define them: we are going to start with denoting words. These types of words are those that express an idea as precisely and directly as possible. That is, these words are those that show the most accurate meaning of a word, without double meanings to expressly indicate the concept that the speaker wants to express. The words respond to their meaning and have no other than the one that has to do with the real concept.

Examples of denoting words

In order to better understand what denoting words are, we are going to see a series of

examples in sentences:

• Manuel works in a bank.
• She is on the beach.
• The boy eats macaroni.
• The boats leave the port at 10 in the morning.
• His father is a tennis player.
• They like to go out to the country on Sunday afternoons.
• Alba wears high heels when she goes to work.
• The dog is big.
• Our house is on Calle Mayor.
• The roses have dried up.

How do you see all these prayers they do not have a double meaningThey express what they express and the words are what they want to show. Its meaning is literal, therefore denotative words are the easiest to identify.

Here we discover the differences between denotation and connotation.

Connotative words, on the other hand, are those that have a literal or denotative meaning, but that in turn, acquire a metaphorical sense. In other words, some words in Spanish can reach, in addition to their meaning, another that has a comparative or figurative sense whose objective is to represent an idea or concept.

Words are not always what they literally mean and the example of this is their connotation. The same word can acquire a meaning that expresses an abstract concept or idea that has nothing to do with the denotative meaning of the word itself.

In Spanish these words are very frequent and in most cases they are used to express virtues, vices or physical characteristics of a person, animal or thing. When we use these types of words it is because we want to highlight them over the rest of the characteristics.

As they are metaphorical or figurative meanings, connotative words, in most cases cannot be separated from their cultural context. That is, many expressions or words only acquire certain meanings in certain places or in communities with a different culture.

This type of denoting words are very frequent in sayings and phrases with double meanings. In them an idea is expressed directly, but there is always another that is veiled and that must be captured. On many occasions it is possible not to realize this double meaning used.

Examples of connotative words

As you can see, connotative words are a bit more difficult to understand, especially if you do not understand their cultural context. Despite this, we are going to see a series of examples that will help you understand this figurative and metaphorical sense of them:

• His teeth are pearls: in this specific case it does not mean that the person has lost their teeth and pearls have been placed in their place. As the word pearl has a connotative meaning, in this case the real meaning of the sentence is that the person we are referring to has very white and shiny teeth.

This example is very simple to understand what connotative words are, but we are going to see other sentences that will help you better fix your knowledge about them:

• Angel goes crazy when he walks into a shoe store.
• When her girlfriend left him she broke his heart into a thousand pieces.
• She has a heart of gold.
• It was so cold in that room that Carla got goose bumps.
• He spent hours staring at her peach face.
• She brushed him for a second with her icy hand.
• His penetrating gaze left him petrified in that dark street.
• He has said that he hates him with the ardor of a thousand suns.
• His brothers get along like cat and dog.
• His wife is a being of light.
• Cristina and Alba are like two drops of water.

We hope these examples have helped you understand what denotative and connotative words are. If you want to continue learning with lessons like this enter our section of Spanish language.