Blue Barrel es un tipo de cactus.
Blue Barrel is a kind of cactus.
Cacti come in many shapes, round, tall or tiny, and un tipo de cactus names one of those kinds.
From Dr. House · Spanish audio
Spanish vocabularyA1 · Beginner
How to say "cactus" in Spanish
el cactus
nounmasculineplural: los cactus
"Cactus" in Spanish is el cactus. The spelling is the same as in English, but the vowels are Spanish: KAHK-toos. For more than one, only the article changes: los cactus.
Hear "cactus" in a real scene
One kind among many. The video starts and stops on that line.
Cactus words in Spanish
From the desert to the dinner table in Mexico.
| Spanish | English | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| el cactus, los cactus | cactus, cacti | One form for singular and plural. |
| el nopal | prickly pear cactus | Very common in Mexico, where the pads are cooked and eaten. |
| la tuna | prickly pear fruit | The Mexican word. In Spain it's el higo chumbo. |
| la espina | spine, thorn | El cactus tiene espinas. The cactus has spines. |
| el desierto | desert | un cactus del desierto, a desert cactus. |
| la planta | plant | una planta de interior is a houseplant. |
Tip: To water a plant is regar, and a cactus needs very little: No riego mucho el cactus.
Grammar: el cactus, los cactus
Four points, and the plural is the easy one.
It's masculine
el cactus, un cactus. Adjectives take the -o ending: un cactus alto, un cactus pequeño.No change in the plural
los cactus, dos cactus, muchos cactus. The article or the number tells you there's more than one.Pure Spanish vowels
The a is ah and the u is oo: KAHK-toos. The stress stays on the first syllable, as in English.A picture on your clothes
Use con for a print: una camiseta con un cactus, a T-shirt with a cactus on it.Example sentences
Sentences from the Wordy Spanish course. Tap to listen.
Es un cactus.
It's a cactus.
¿Qué significa este cactus?
What does this cactus mean?
Un cactus no es un regalo romántico.
A cactus isn't a romantic gift.
¿Un cactus en Filadelfia?
A cactus in Philadelphia?
Common mistakes
Mistakes learners make with this word, and how to fix them.
✗los cactuses
✓los cactus
Spanish keeps the same form in the plural and only changes the article.
✗una cactus
✓un cactus
Planta is feminine, but cactus is masculine, so it takes un and el.
✗KAK-tuhs (pronunciation)
✓KAHK-toos
Keep the u as a full oo sound. Spanish doesn't weaken unstressed vowels.
Real conversation: the team photo
A short dialog with a teammate, one minute before the photo.
Your teammate Mateo has to line up for the team photo in a minute, and he just noticed what's printed on the front of his T-shirt.
¡Oye! ¿Qué es esto? Es verde.
Hey! What's this? It's green.
Es un cactus.
It's a cactus.
¡Ah, vale! No es feo.
Oh, okay! It's not ugly.
Your turn to answer
In the app you reply in Spanish for the last line.
Continue the conversation in WordyPractice: 3 quick exercises
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1 of 3 · Watch and choose
What do you hear in the video?
The other 31 exercises on this topic are in the app.
How to remember it
Picture a cactus too prickly to let an -es ending stick to it: one cactus, two cactus, los cactus.
Questions about "cactus" in Spanish
How do you say cactus in Spanish?
El cactus, spelled as in English and pronounced KAHK-toos.
What is the plural of cactus in Spanish?
Los cactus. The noun stays the same. You may also see the variant el cacto, plural los cactos.
Is cactus masculine or feminine in Spanish?
Masculine: el cactus, un cactus pequeño, los cactus altos.
What is a nopal?
El nopal is the prickly pear cactus. In Mexico its flat pads, los nopales, are a common food.
