Fregar vs. lavar

Fregar vs. lavar
 

Are these two words completely interchangeable? Do they mean exactly the same thing? Or are there different ways in which they are used? Are there regional differences? Thanks!

No. Fregar means "restregar"

Lavar means to wash.

:)

So they are never ever used interchangeably? Because I wrote "lava los platos" and the book had "friega los platos"...... What is the difference between fregar/restregar and lavar?

Ok.

Básicamente se puede usar indistintamente.

En Chile no se friegan los platos, pero sí se restriegan cuando se lavan estos.

:)

Would you give me that (the second part) in English, please. It would be more helpful. Thanks.

Clean the dishes. Lavar los trastes.
Scrub the dishes. Fregar los trastes (platos)

Todo depende en lo que comes. Sí te encuentras fregando mucho los platos, a lo mejor tu cardiologo tedrá que fregar tus arterias. en algunos años:lol:

Lou Ann, Poli gave you the answer. My question to you:

What bilingual dictionary/dictionaries do you use?

Ahah!! Thanks, Poli - that makes perfect sense.

Hernan - I use WordReference.com when I'm near a computer. But I didn't use one on this particular sentence because I didn't think I needed to look anything up for that particular sentence - I was asked to translate "My mother wants me to wash the dishes", which I thought would be "lavar", but the answers used "fregar" (which makes sense because the exercises were using verbs with spelling changes in the roots in the subjunctive). After I checked the answers and saw their word, THEN I looked in the dictionary and both "lavar" and "fregar" say " ~~ los platos", so I wasn't sure if they were exact synonyms or not. In fact, one of the Spanish definitions given there for "fregar" is "lavar".

Hernan - it would still be helpful for me to get your sentence in English:
Thanks!!

In Chile dishes are not scrubbed but scrubbed when these are washed.

You asked. Now, does it make sense? And why?

You shouldn't need much translation now in English, and as always I am trying to push your limits... :)

I understood each individual word in your sentence, but I didn't understand it when they were all put together. That's why I asked. I'm sorry that you think I'm faking or something ... I'm not actually sure why you think I ask questions. Anyway, I wouldn't ask if I actually understood it to begin with...

And, no, I don't even understand the English sentence. At this point, I'll just drop it ... I seem to be missing some elephant in the room again. :banghead:

I think the only thing you're missing, Lou Ann, is that fregar los platos and lavar los platos are interchangeable in some places. The person(s) who wrote your textbook used these phrases interchangeably, but not everybody in the world does.

I've heard and used lavar los platos, fregar los platos, y lavar los trastes for 'wash the dishes', in that order. Cuidada, that last one should only be used in certain areas of Latin America! It has quite another meaning in some regions. Lavar los trastos is more correct, but I never heard it used where I was in Latin America.

You can also say lavar la(s) vajilla(s) o lavar la loza, but I haven't heard them used much in Latin America.

What they use where you live is the correct way to say it. ;) But I think you can't go wrong with lavar los platos.

You don't need to bang your head that way...

fregar and restregar = scrub

lavar = wash

I told you that in Chile restregar is used more than fregar, and i also confirmed you that lavar y restregar are most of the time used to mean the same.

Although, in Chile we say lavar los platos more than restregar.

We use it more or less in the same way it is used in English.

I am going to wash the dishes and I'll make sure I'll scrub it them thoroughly.

Well, although you could say "Lavar los platos" and "Fregar los platos" for this expression, is not always interchangeably:

"Lavar" Means something like "clean with water"

"Fregar" Is like "Lavar", but implies that something is rubbed (A rag, sponge, brush, etc.)...

Well, I hope I have a helped a little!

Good Luck!

Yes - all of this helps a lot. Thanks. I'm still a little fuzzy on Hernan's sentence, but that has nothing to do with the words fregar, lavar or restregar... Thanks all!!