You probably know some fruit names in Spanish. But, do you know how the trees where those fruits grow are called in Spanish?
In Spanish, sometimes a fruit and its corresponding tree or plant share the same name, but in many cases, the plant has a different name. In those cases, it’s necessary to use the name of the plant, and not the fruit name.
Let's review the main fruit and fruit tree names patterns that you will encounter when learning Spanish:
1. The fruit and the tree share the same name
| FRUIT IN ENGLISH | FRUIT IN SPANISH | TREE IN SPANISH |
| avocado | aguacate (m) | aguacate (m) |
| cashew nut | anacardo (m) | anacardo (m) |
| pineapple | ananás (m) | ananás (m) |
| blueberry | arándano (m) | arándano (m) |
| cacao | cacao (m) | cacao (m) |
| khaki | caqui (m) | caqui (m) |
| strawberry | fresa (f) | fresa (f) |
| kiwi | kiwi (m) | kiwi (m) |
| mango | mango (m) | mango (m) |
| melon | melón (m) | melón (m) |
| loquat | níspero (m) | níspero (m) |
| grapefruit | pomelo (m) | pomelo (m) |
| watermelon | sandía (f) | sandía (f) |
2. The fruit name ends in -a and the tree name ends in -o
| FRUIT IN ENGLISH | FRUIT IN SPANISH | TREE IN SPANISH |
| olive | aceituna (f) / oliva (f) | aceituno (m) / olivo (m) |
| acerola | acerola (f) | acerolo (m) |
| almond | almendra (f) | almendro (m) |
| hazelnut | avellana (f) | avellano (m) |
| banana | banana (f) | banano (m) |
| bergamot | bergamota (f) | bergamoto (m) |
| chestnut | castaña (f) | castaño (m) |
| cherry | cereza (f) | cerezo (m) |
| custard apple | chirimoya (f) | chirimoyo (m) |
| citron | cidra (f) | cidro (m) |
| plum | ciruela (f) | ciruelo (m) |
| sloe | endrina (f) | endrino (m) |
| raspberry | frambuesa (f) | frambueso (m) |
| pomegranate | granada (f) | granado (m) |
| guava | guayaba (f) | guayabo (m) |
| apple | manzana (f) | manzano (m) |
| orange | naranja (f) | naranjo (m) |
| papaya | papaya (f) | papayo (m) |
| grapefruit | toronja (f) | toronjo (m) |
3. The tree name ends in -ero
In this case, the tree can usually also be called by the name of the fruit, as in pattern 1.
*Notice that the fig tree is called higuera, ending in -era.
| FRUIT IN ENGLISH | FRUIT IN SPANISH | TREE IN SPANISH |
| apricot | albaricoque (m) | albaricoquero (m) |
| coconut | coco (m) | cocotero (m) / coco (m) |
| peach | durazno (m) | duraznero (m) / durazno (m) |
| melocotón (m) | melocotonero (m) / melocotón (m) | |
| fig | higo (m) | higuera (f) |
| lime | lima (f) | limero (m) / lima (f) |
| lemon | limón (m) | limonero (m) |
| mandarine | mandarina (f) | mandarinero (m) / mandarino (m) |
| quince | membrillo (m) | membrillero (m) / membrillo |
| pistachio | pistacho (m) | pistachero (m) / alfóncigo (m) |
| banana | plátano (m) | platanero (m) / plátano (m) |
4. Other patterns
There are other patterns and, as in the example above, it is possible to use more than one pattern in some cases.
| ENGLISH | FRUIT IN SPANISH | TREE IN SPANISH |
| coffee | café (m) | cafeto (m) / café (m) |
| acorn | bellota (f) | roble (m), encina (f) ... |
| date | dátil (m) | palmera datilera (f) |
| blackberry | mora (f) | zarza (f) / zarzamora (f) |
| walnut | nuez (f) | nogal (m) |
| pear | pera (f) | peral (m) |
| pine cone | piña (f) | pino (m) |
| pine nut | piñón (m) | |
| grape | uva (f) | parra (f) |
5. Gender
All fruit and fruit tree names ending in -a are feminine nouns.
All fruit and fruit tree names ending in other letters are masculine nouns except for nuez [walnut] and vid [grapevine], which are feminine.
[Read more about the gender of Spanish nouns in this lesson.]
6. Other names
Some fruits, trees and plants may have other names not included on this list. I have included the most familiar ones to me.
If you have any questions regarding this or any other topic, don't hesitate to contact me.