Sobre todo or sobretodo? The question of this week was asked by Vanja, a student who claims to be always confused when trying to write this word. He’s not the only one who has problems with this word, (even native Spanish-speakers hesitate about how to spell it properly), so we hope you find this article useful.

‘Sobre todo or sobretodo?”. Most people don’t know that both options are correct… but they actually have totally different meanings.

• Sobre todo:is an expression that should be written separately. It’s the most common option and it means ‘mainly, especially’.

          Ejemplo: Me encanta la música latina, sobre todo la salsa y el tango. = I love latin American music, especially salsa and tango.

• Sobretodo (masculine noun): In Spain, according to the Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas, it means a ‘garment with long sleeves, which is worn over other garments’. It is a type of clothing that is rarely used these days, something similar to the ‘cape’ that Neo (the main actor of the film Matrix) wears during the whole movie. In Latin America, the Word ‘sobre todo’ is used as a synonym for ‘abrigo’ (coat) or ‘impermeable’ (raincoat).

But if you’re not talking about clothing, don’t forget that sobre todo are always two separate words! 😉

Keanu Reeves wearing a Sobretodo in the film Matrix.

*[If you have questions related to the Spanish language -grammar, spelling, vocabulary, etc.- you can email us at info@elinqua.com or write a comment in our blog, and our team of native Spanish teachers will answer them for free].