Trade words in English and Spanish, each with its source
Type a word from a quote, an invoice or a job site, in either language, and see how a named source writes it in the other: OSHA's own English and Spanish lists, the IRS's glossary, a state contractor board. The whole list is on this page, in groups, so you can also read straight down it. It is a list, not a translator. Every pair was read at its source, and none was machine translated. It is free, with nothing to sign up for.
Find a word
Type all of it or part of it. Capitals and accents do not matter.
421 pairs, in 9 groups
Nothing you type here is sent anywhere. The whole list is already on this page, and the box only hides the rows that do not match.
Every pair was read at the source named beside it. None was machine translated, and none is here because it sounded right to us.
On the quote and the invoice (80)
Money and the business (43)
Who is on the job (33)
Measures (6)
Materials (45)
Tools and equipment (65)
Parts of a house and a yard (50)
Kinds of work (43)
Safety (56)
What this is, and what it is not
It is a list of words as certain named sources write them. Beside every pair is where we read it, and at the foot of the page is every source with a link and the day we opened it.
It is not a translator. It will not turn a sentence into the other language, and it does not know your job. It gives you a word, and you write the line.
It is not the last word either. Trade Spanish changes from one country to the next and from one crew to the next. The word your customer or your crew uses is the right one, whatever a list says.
Where a source lists several Spanish words for one English word, you see all of them, in the order the source gives them. Where two sources give different words, you see both rows, each with its own source. We do not pick a winner.
Where the words were read
Most of the list comes from two places that print English and Spanish side by side: the lists of construction words that OSHA's own task force wrote, and the glossary the IRS keeps for its Spanish forms, which is where the money words are from.
The words of a contract come from texts a government body publishes in both languages, read one beside the other: California's contractor board's guide to home improvement contracts, a Federal Trade Commission page, Washington State's page on hiring a contractor and an EPA page. A pair is on the list only where the same sentence gives both words.
A few rows are from dictionaries that record how Spanish is spoken in the United States, and one is from a paint maker's own Spanish page. Each of those says so beside it.
We left a word out when we could not read it at a source worth naming. That is why some groups are short. The measures are the plainest case: only a handful were printed in both languages where we looked.
Writing a quote for a customer who reads the other language
- Decide the language of the paper first. It is the one your customer reads, not the one you think in.
- Write each line in that language. When you are not sure of a word, type it in the box in the language you know, and copy the other one.
- If the list shows two or three words, use the one you have heard your customer or your crew say. If you have heard none of them, ask.
- Leave a brand name, a model and a size the way they are printed on the box.
- Read the whole line back. A list gives you a word, not a sentence.
English words that stay English
Some English words are said in Spanish as they are. This is as far as the sources on this page go.
A dictionary of the English words used in the Spanish of the United States, from the Instituto Cervantes at Harvard, records "invoice", "taxes" and "overtime" as words in general use there. Washington State's own Spanish writes "(Handyman)" beside its Spanish word for one. A paint maker's Spanish page writes "primers". And the academies' dictionary of Americanisms marks "estimado" for the United States as a word shaped on the English "estimate".
So for "estimate" the list has two rows: the Federal Trade Commission's word and the dictionary's. What each word for that paper means has a page of its own.
We have not counted how anyone talks, and we say nothing about how common any of this is.
If a word is wrong or missing
Tell us. Write to support@tailgatebid.com with the word, what you would say instead, and where you work. A person reads that mailbox.
A word goes on the list once we can read it at a source we can name. If you know one, such as a state agency or a maker that prints it in both languages, send that too.
What TailGateBid does not translate
- What you type yourself: the name of a line, a description, a note to the customer. It goes to your customer exactly as you typed it, so write it in the language that customer reads.
- It does not look a word up for you while you write a quote. This list is a page of its own, outside the app.
What TailGateBid does in two languages
Each person on your crew uses TailGateBid in English or in Spanish, and each customer gets the language you set for them. Everything TailGateBid itself puts on a quote or an invoice follows the customer: the headings, the totals, the buttons, the emails. See one quote in both languages.
The free tools here do the same. The estimate maker and the change order form print their paper in either language, and the message writer writes in either one.
Every plan starts with 30 days free, with no card needed.
TailGateBid puts its own words on a quote in your customer's language: the headings, the totals, the buttons and the emails.
Start free trial30 days free. No card needed.
Sources
- OSHA, Construction Industry Terms: English to Spanish,
- OSHA, Frequently Used Construction Industry Terms: English to Spanish,
- OSHA, General OSHA Terms: English to Spanish,
- OSHA, General Industry Terms: English to Spanish,
- Internal Revenue Service, Publication 850 (EN-SP), English-Spanish Glossary of Tax Words and Phrases,
- California Contractors State License Board, the same consumer guide in Spanish,
- California Contractors State License Board, consumer guide to home improvement contracts,
- Federal Trade Commission, the same page in Spanish: Cómo evitar una estafa de mejoras del hogar,
- Federal Trade Commission, How To Avoid a Home Improvement Scam,
- Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Contratar a un contratista, in Spanish,
- Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Hiring a Contractor,
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the same program's page in Spanish,
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program,
- Diccionario de americanismos, Association of Spanish Language Academies,
- Diccionario de americanismos, the Spanish language academies' dictionary of Americanisms, entry "yarda",
- Diccionario de americanismos, the Spanish language academies' dictionary of Americanisms, entry "carpeta",
- Diccionario de anglicismos del español estadounidense, Instituto Cervantes at Harvard University (2018),
- Sherwin-Williams, paint maker, its own page in Spanish,
Related
- English and SpanishEach person works in English or Spanish, and each customer gets the one you set for them.
- Estimate makerType a few lines and print a clean estimate or quote, in English or Spanish. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
- Change order formWrite up extra or changed work, see the new total, and print a paper for both of you to sign. In English or Spanish.
- Follow-up message writerPick the situation, type a few names, and copy a message to send from your own phone. In English or Spanish.
- Estimate, quote or bidWhat each word says, what it does not, and what the paper has to say whichever you use.
By TailGateBid. .
A list says how its sources write a word. The word your customer or your crew uses is the right one.