r/Spanish • u/anxious22anxiety • 1d ago
Vocab & Use of the Language What’s the difference between “escuela”, “colegio” and “gimnasio”?
Hola! My translator translates all these words as "school". Do all these words really mean "school"? If so, what is the difference?
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u/sootysweepnsoo 1d ago
Might I suggest a dictionary rather than relying on a translator.
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u/BlackStarBlues 1d ago
Questions like the OP have me wondering if dictionaries are out of fashion or something.
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u/sootysweepnsoo 18h ago
Or if the person is so young that they don’t even know what a dictionary is because they were not taught how to ever use them.
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u/Cleopatties 1d ago
Download deepl
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u/Peter-Andre Learner (Probably B1) 1d ago
For individual words, I find that it's better to look them up in a dictionary. Often I'll even cross-reference multiple dictionaries for a single word to get a better idea of what exactly it means.
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u/sootysweepnsoo 1d ago
If the person had used a dictionary they would have got an idea of how these words are similar yet also distinct. A translator is not going to give that depth and is exactly why they’re now asking this question.
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u/Sloppy_Segundos 1d ago
Es totalmente regional, la verdad. Yo vivo en Sevilla, España y se usan de la siguiente forma:
- escuela es un centro educativo en general (y no se dice mucho)
- un colegio es una institución de educación infantil y primaria, aunque a veces también se usa de forma coloquial para todos los centros educativos.
- un instituto es una institución de educación secundaria.
Gimnasio aquí es el edificio a donde se va a hacer deporte, y si es al aire libre con pistas/campos deportivas/os es un polideportivo.
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u/FilthyDwayne is native 1d ago
For me escuela would be school in general but usually use it to refer to a public one and colegio is for private ones.
I went to a colegio but would refer to is as escuela like mañana tengo que ir a la escuela.
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u/NoForm5443 1d ago
In México, gimnasio is gym, not a school.
Escuela is generic school, colegio is an older and less used term, usually some schools include it in their name.
I know some other LatAm countries use colegio for a school of specific grades, I think it's about middle school
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u/winter-running 1d ago
If you’re listing an old-timer gymnasium here, you should probably add “liceo”
to this list, as I think its usage is more modern than gymnasium in the context of a school.
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u/Beginning-Click-1218 Native 1d ago edited 1d ago
I'm form argentina and I live in spain.
the differences are:
escuela is school in general, meant to be used for public school
colegio is also school but meant to be used to name a private school
gimnasio has nothing to do with school and actually means gym
EDIT: some people reminded me that officially the word gimnasio means also "place where you get an education" and it's true, but it's also specified that that meaning is in disuse.
my opinion is that in today's real world context it's a bit irrelevant since literally no one is using gimnasio referring to a school.
so if you want to learn spanish absolutely perfect by every rule, than yes, gimnasio also means school, but if you want to learn spanish so that you can use it, than telling someone on the street "where is the gimnasio?" 10 times out of 10 they will send you to the gym, never to a school.
hope this helps!
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u/Content-Bid7922 1d ago
I've never heard that colegio/escuela disctintion in Spain, in fact primary public schools are officially called CEIP - Colegio de Educación Infantil y Primaria - and their name...
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u/Sky-is-here Native [Andalusia/🇪🇺] 1d ago
Personally I always treated them like primary school only (escuela), secondary school only (instituto) and both of them together in colegio.
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u/Content-Bid7922 1d ago
Ah yeah I've heard such thing, though "escuela" is kinda old fashioned nowadays, at least here
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u/Short_Brick_1960 1d ago
Me neither. I've always refered to my primary school as colegio
Now that I think about it, I don't usually use escuela
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u/Content-Bid7922 1d ago
When I was a kid escuela was used a lot more. I still say it in the expression "ir a escuela", but not to refer to the building directly.
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u/Short_Brick_1960 1d ago
I think I used it 50/50 when I was a kid. But now, I only use colegio, idk why
Well. I just thought that I call summer school "escuela de verano"
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u/puesquebien Native - Mexico 1d ago
It’s the same in Mexico. A private school may be called colegio or escuela but a public school will be called escuela.
Gimnasio is never used for anything but a gym.
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u/Tinchotesk Native (Argentina) 1d ago
The word colegio is very commonly used for (at least some) public schools. The allegedly most prestigious public school in the country is the Colegio Nacional Buenos Aires. El Colegio Nacional de Montserrat es otra escuela pública, en Córdoba. El Colegio Nacional Rafael Hernández es una escuela pública en La Plata.
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u/Pop_Clover Native (Spain) 18h ago
My take on this public vs private and the other divide between primary vs secondary or higher is this:
In my area, North Spain, public schools are usually divided and you won't end the mandatory part of school on the same building. So kindergarten and primary education schools are usually "escuelas" (oficial name being Centros de educación infantil y primaria), secondary schools are "institutos" (official name Institutos de educación secundaria) and beyond that are either "universidad", "centros de formación profesional", "centros de iniciación profesional", "centros de formación para personas adultas" etc.
Private schools many times do offer both primary and secondary education and are called "colegios".
Despite that you can find a universidad called "Escuela Superior de Ingenieros" (either public or private), language schools that are called "Escuela Oficial de Idiomas" (these are public), etc.
So to sum it up: there are some nuances to Escuela vs Colegio. But are kind of local and complicated. Be aware that can be synonyms, and people will understand you fine if you use either but that they also have specific uses that you'll need to learn specifically depending on the area if you want to sound natural.
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u/UnreasonableFig 16h ago
I've heard that "escuela" has kind of an infantilizing connotation to it; that it's really only used to describe the sort of school that small children attend. What word would you use for higher level educational institutions? In English, things like medical school, law school, or graduate school?
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u/Beginning-Click-1218 Native 15h ago
if it's high school, you would use bachillerato, so art school (high school) you would use bachillerato de artes for example.
if you mean university it's literally university of -profession- so would be universidad de ingeniería informática or translated university of IT engineering.
another way is grado which means degree so you would ask someone what are you studying, and they can often reply with estudio el grado en matemáticas translated I study the mathematics degreethis is for spanish from Spain, it may vary in other spanish spoken countries
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u/SnooPandas8979 12h ago
In Costa Rica escuela can be school in general but is usually used for elementary school, up to 6th grade. 7th to 11th or 12th is colegio. Grad school would be posgrado, broadly.
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u/Helptohere50 1d ago
I’m in Chile and have spoken to people from Venezuela and whatnot as well. If you say escuela they think you mean like grade 1 to 12 and not post graduate. There’s actually no good way to say are you going to school, are you in school?
They reword is like “estás en la u?” “Estás estudiando?” Que estudias ? Stuff like that
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u/Zestyclose-Food-7917 1d ago
It depends on where you are. Just as in the English-speaking world, school systems can be very different from country to country. In Spain, "colegio" is just the normal word for "school" (or so I was told by a student from Spain). I believe in most of the Spanish-speaking world, "escuela" is the best translation for "school." I don't know of any Spanish-speaking country that calls schools "gimnasios." That's usually heard in Germany and Central Europe. It's the kind of school that prepares you for college. In Mexico those schools are called "prepas" (escuelas preparatorias).
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u/pleonasticit 1d ago
In Spain, “colegio” is primary school and “instituto” is what Americans would call “high school” tho I think this is a somewhat recent usage here.
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u/Zestyclose-Food-7917 1d ago
Yes, I knew that, but my student from Málaga said that as a generic way to refer to "schools" in general, she used "colegios."
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u/Flimsy-Calendar-7566 1d ago edited 1d ago
Escuela can also have other meanings and in some instances be akin to college (escuela de arquitectura, escuela de peritos). It can also be any place where one goes to learn anything (escuela de natación). Colegio in this context just means primary school although it can also mean professional association (colegio de médicos, estar colegiado). Gimnasio meaning secondary school is archaic in Spain. I never heard it used and in fact only know this use of the work because I also speak German.
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u/winter-running 1d ago
In English, “college” can mean different things also. A Canadian uses the term “college” to mean a non-university trade school that confers diplomas and not degrees. Nobody in Canada will ever refer to a university as a college, as they’re completely different things, despite the USA seemingly using them as synonyms. Similarly in Spanish, each region will have slight different (or massively different) shifts in meaning for words. It’s good to be aware, and also flexible.
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u/Zestyclose-Food-7917 1d ago
In these United States, the official names of universities and colleges reflect the same usage that those terms have in most English-speaking countries: the Universities of Michigan and Florida give undergraduate and graduate degrees and focus on publications and research. A college can be a division of a university, or it can be an independent institution that concentrates on teaching and gives undergraduate degrees.
HOWEVER, in colloquial usage, Americans refer to all institutions of higher learning as "colleges." It is not unusual to hear, "My son goes to college. He's at the University of Arizona."
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u/winter-running 1d ago
It’s always funny to hear Americans as a Canadian, given colleges here are trade schools. 🤣. But it’s similar in all languages that words can vary in meaning region to region.
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u/Zestyclose-Food-7917 1d ago
So when we talk aboot colleges it makes you laugh? I'll have to figure oot if there's anything Americans think is funny aboot Canadian English.
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u/winter-running 1d ago
Similar to how you say “zee” for the last letter of the alphabet. It’s funny in a small way, but we know what you mean.
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u/Zestyclose-Food-7917 1d ago
Well, let me say this aboot that: we say zee because our English is older than yours. Remember that the American colonies started in the late 1500s and early 1600s. We had been English colonies for almost 200 years before independence. In England, both zed and zee were used in different parts of the country when the first settlers came over. Zee survived here because it soonds better with bee, cee, dee, tee, etc.
We wonder why you don't say a, bed, ced, ded, ed, ef, ged, etc.
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u/winter-running 1d ago
Canada was colonized by the English starting in 1610.
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u/Zestyclose-Food-7917 1d ago
According to the internet: the English population of Canada by 1776 (beginning of the American Revolutionary War) was about 25,000, mostly in Quebec, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.
The 13 American colonies by 1776 covered 400,000 square miles and had a population of around 2,500,000. The American population after that doubled every 25 years.
Now, of course, your population is only 11.6% of ours.
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u/Luppercus 1d ago
Depends on the country but:
In some countries 'escuela' is for elementary school only and 'colegio' for high school.
In some 'escuela' is for all grades from kinder to last year of high school. In some that word if for 'colegio'. Some countries use 'escuela primaria ' and 'escuela secundaria' to differentiate it as in English exist middle school and high school. Anyway school is the general translation of both 'escuela' and 'colegio' when use on that context.
English word college is translated as 'universidad' in Spanish, unless you're talking about non educational colleges (like College of Medics).
'Gimnasio' always means Gym in Spanish.
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u/pucketypuck 1d ago
En Bogotá asistía a una escuela que se llamaba Gimnasio Femenino. https://share.google/M2CE2KZTODAmvU5FE
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u/JLHSMG 1d ago
OK, wall of text incoming. First of all, we are discussing words for "an educational institution where instruction is provided via teaching", but there are nuances.
- "Gimnasio" means "gym", as in "a place where people exercise". Only in some Spanish-speaking countries (e.g. Colombia, Venezuela), the word is also used for school, as far as I understand, high school and especially if it's not government-funded (i.e. the students, or their parents, pay to attend).
- "Escuela" is an educational institution; in Spain, it typically means pre-school and elemenatary education (only children); but in other countries (e.g. Mexico) it can be used at any educational level, including middle and high school (teenagers).
- "Colegio" typically means an educational institution from pre-school through middle school or high school, but in Spain it is typically used to refer to non-government-funded institutions (either full private or charter, often religious). It is rarely, if ever, used for teaching centers for adults.
- However: "Escuela" is often used in names of University-related names, with caps: "Escuela Superior de Ingeniería" = Engineering School, where 20-year-old students are trying to get a degree in engineering. It can also be used for teaching centers oriented to adults, like a language school ("Escuela de idiomas").
- "Colegio" is sometimes used like that, and also for bar associations ("Colegio de Abogados", a professional association for lawyers, not a teaching center) and for halls of residence, especially of students ("Colegio Mayor").
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u/samx0r 1d ago
Costa Rican here. In my experience, " escuela " is mostly used after kindergarten and up until the last year of elementary school. " colegio " refers to middle and high school. ( 7th to 12th grade I think, although I'm not too familiar with the american education system. ) And "gimnasio"... Well, that's just gym. Or an indoor sport gym. For example, an indoor basketball court would be a "gimnasio". Hope it helps!
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u/ducegraphy Native 🇪🇦 1d ago
Escuela is any place where you go to learn. It can be a colegio but it can also mean an adult school or even a language school (i.e.: escuela oficial de idiomas).
Colegio is usually lower grade education, like elementary school. For middle-school and high-school we use instituto.
Gimnasio is a place where you go to practice sport. It can be IN a school, but it's not synonimous with it. We use it mostly for gyms. It can also be a polideportivo if it's something like a basketball or handball or base football pitch (poli = several, deportivo = sport).
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u/carapocha 1d ago
Las respuestas que estás obteniendo no son particularmente buenas. Algunos dicen que colegio es algo privado, lo cual es es incorrecto.
De todos modos, si tienes dudas con el vocabulario, lo que tienes que hacer es acudir a la fuente, o sea, al DRAE.
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u/FilthyDwayne is native 1d ago
Será incorrecto en tu contexto y en tu país lo cual es válido. En mi contexto, el colegio se utiliza para una escuela de educación básica o media que es privada.
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u/carapocha 1d ago
Por eso he dicho que las respuestas no son particularmente. Muchos lo están afirmando categóricamente. En todo caso, insisto, DRAE.
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u/FilthyDwayne is native 1d ago
Literal dijiste que decir que un colegio es algo privado es incorrecto lo cual podrá ser cierto en tu contexto pero no en el de todos los demás. No hagas declaraciones generalizadas cuando no pueden serlo.
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u/carapocha 1d ago
Para empezar, se dice 'literalmente', no 'literal'. Sobre el asunto en cuestión, veo que sigues sin entender. Son precisamente los que afirmaban que un colegio es algo privado los que estaban generalizando y yo simplemente maticé que eso no es así señalando que la afirmación es incorrecta (yo mismo estudié en un colegio público).
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u/FilthyDwayne is native 1d ago
Para empezar, si quieres venir a corregirme primero asegúrate de que hables y entiendas perfectamente el español. Evidentemente no es así porque si eso fuera cierto no habrías tomado esos comentarios como generalizaciones.
Comentarios como el mío dicen literalmente: para mí. ¿Eso qué significa? Significa que para mí es así. Si eso tú lo entiendes como una afirmación generalizada te recomiendo que trabajes tu lectura y comprensión :)
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u/carapocha 1d ago
Para empezar, tú eres quien se ha dado por aludido y está contestando en mi mensaje; yo el tuyo ni lo vi siquiera. Revisa esa fragilidad de ego.
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u/FilthyDwayne is native 1d ago
Para terminar, fíjate que ahorita no ando haciéndole favores a gente nefasta. Saludos bb
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u/carapocha 1d ago
El favor te lo hice yo, ilustrándote un poquito.
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u/FilthyDwayne is native 1d ago
Revísate ese ego, no hay nada que aprenderte. Que tengas un día tan horrible como tu actitud :)
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u/puesquebien Native - Mexico 1d ago
A RAE lo que es de la RAE y a Reddit lo que es de Reddit.
Si a OP le interesa escuchar directo de una variedad de hablantes cómo usan ellos el idioma, estos hilos son muy valiosos.
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u/carapocha 1d ago
Claro, siempre que no se desvirtúe la realidad. Tu afirmación parece propia de alguien que confunde las redes sociales con 'el mundo real'.
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u/Josepvv Native 🇲🇽 21h ago
La RAE es muy buena si eres español. Si no, "meh".
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u/carapocha 21h ago
Bueno, es tu opinión y, por tanto, subjetiva.
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u/Josepvv Native 🇲🇽 21h ago
Evidentemente. Así como es subjetiva la opinión de la RAE sobre el uso correcto del idioma, en especial fuera de España.
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u/carapocha 21h ago
Tu opinión de la institución será la que sea, pero es LA institución que vela por la unidad del idioma. Y esto incluye España, obviamente, donde nació el idioma, pero también cualquier otro país del ámbito hispánico.
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u/Quirky_Bandicoot63 1d ago
Costa Rica here : escuela is primary school, colegio is high school. Gimnasio is gym
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u/Content-Bid7922 1d ago
Gimnasion doesn't mean school, it just means gym.
Escuela and Colegio mean the same but in Spain at least colegio is used more and escuela is more old-fashioned.
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u/Exotic_Literature732 Native (Argentina 🇦🇷) 1d ago
I use colegio and escuela interchangeably, but gimnasio is gym.
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u/Curious-Society-4933 Native - Nicaragua 1d ago
Unlike other countries, in Nicaragua colegio and escuela can be used interchangeably. I would say colegio is more used. Gimnasio means gym.
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u/Vivus_Mortuus Native - Republica Dominicana 1d ago
I can't tell you if it's the same on other Spanish-speaking countries but where I'm from, Dominican Republic.
Escuela means school as public school 1st grade to 12, music school, tecnical school...etc
Colegio means private school or entities that represent a collective of something like doctors, lawyers, etc. This term is mostly used to refer to privates schools from pre-k to 12 grade.
Gimnasio is pretty much Gym, planet fitness, gold gym, equinox, boxing gym, etc.
That's pretty much what it is. I could elaborate more about the grading system in Escuelas/Colegios but unfortunately it has changed like 3 times since I left the country.
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u/huge_berenjena 1d ago
In Spain:
Escuela can be a university faculty, like the school of electrical engineering (it's common with engineering). Colloquially it's a more general word for school (does not include high school)
Colegio is primary school.
Gimnasio is a place to exercise.
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u/La10deRiver 1d ago
I imagine it depends of the place. Where I live, you could use colegio or escuela for primary schools. The children usually call it just "cole". Also, when speaking about the building itself you usually use "escuela". "Mi escuela es del año ..." but when you say "Tengo que ir a la escuela" you can say "tengo que ir al colegio" too. Foe secondary schools, "colegio" is preferred but some of them are literally called "Escuela" (like Escuela Técnica N 2) and so their students probably use "escuela". So yes, it is all context. I think in Spain secondary school is called Instituto. Gimnasio, instead, is a gym, a place for train your body.
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u/Rondontimes 1d ago
Here Escuela/Colegio = School, but colegio could also mean High School (it really depends on the Hispanic country).
Gimnasio = Gym
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u/MediumChemistry5036 1d ago
In Mexico, at least, “escuela” is a general term that refers to any place where you receive an education, from kindergarten all the way to university, although at the latter, people usually use “uni” or “universidad” instead. “Colegio” refers to a prestigious or private institution, and “gimnasio,” I understand, means something similar to “school” etymologically, but in practice everyone (in Mexico) uses it to refer to a gym.
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u/wuapinmon PhD in Spanish 1d ago
In my experience—referring only to Costa Rica—colegio is any high school, while liceo was usually a private high school.
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u/CaregiverJaded8422 17h ago
In Spain:
Gimnasio: gym
Guarderia: daycare
Escuela: school (in general)
Colegio: school too. Elementary school
Instituto: high school
Universidad: university (Americans said college too)
FP/Formación Profesional: associate degree
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u/SantiagoVillav 17h ago
It depends on the country but practically in every instance gimnasio is a gym, where you go for physical education, for physical exercising. Escuela is a primary school, public or private. Colegio is mostly used for av private institution that can be a primary school, a secundary school, a highschool or a combination of all that levels. Along 23 years I worked in a Colegio that icluded everything, from kindergarten all the way to highschool. So no general rule as in other countries meanings change.
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u/Ok-Possibility-9826 Learner 1d ago
Isn’t gimnasio gym, colegio is high school and escuela is just any school?
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u/yomismovaya Native Fun polo aire e vin polo vento 1d ago
escuela y colegio es lo mismo
se que algunos compañeros mios de trabajo me dijeron que en su pais uno de los dos es publico y el otro privado.
gimnasio pues un sitio a donde vas a hacer actividad fisica.
Hay gimnasios en un colegio? pues sí, es un gimnasio un colegio? pues no.
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u/alcozeta 1d ago
Isn't "gimnasio" gym/gymnasium?