Verduras vs Vegetales vs Hortalizas

[wafflestomp]

I did an online search on this and found a few threads at Word Reference but they were all generally from years back and they never came to a consensus..
What I got from it was the Hortalizas is a more formal term, verduras is the term used in the household, and vegetales is the term used to refer to botany? But then someone from Spain came and said that Hortalizas is used everyday and then people from other countries came in and disputed what was previously said and from searching the online dictionaries, I get "vegetables" from typing in each of them.. can anyone here try to clear this up? Or is it just a total regional difference for each of them?

Thanks!

[chileno]

Originally Posted by wafflestomp

I did an online search on this and found a few threads at Word Reference but they were all generally from years back and they never came to a consensus..
What I got from it was the Hortalizas is a more formal term, verduras is the term used in the household, and vegetales is the term used to refer to botany? But then someone from Spain came and said that Hortalizas is used everyday and then people from other countries came in and disputed what was previously said and from searching the online dictionaries, I get "vegetables" from typing in each of them.. can anyone here try to clear this up? Or is it just a total regional difference for each of them?

Thanks!

All of that equates to vegetables/produce.

But then I would say that:

hortalizas = produce

verduras = green specially leafy vegetables.

But still both correspond to produce.

In Chile we use hortaliza to name the place/plot were these are planted and verduras for produce.

[ROBINDESBOIS]

If you go to the doctor, he can recommend you to eat verduras. Vegetales is a word that nobody uses when it comes to eating, a vegetal person is sb who is laid in bed and can move.
If you have a schema at home with the number of calories that every kind of food has, you will read Hortalizas.
Sometimes you will see hortalizas and verduras. I think the difference is the register, Verduras is more popular than hortalizas.
vegetales are all plants including the verduras. that´s why you will hear el mundo vegetal.
Hortalizas are verduras and legumbres. However if we say verduras, legumbres like beans, lentints, chickpeas, are not included.
I hope it clearer now. Sorry for the pell-mell.

[sosia]

From RAE:
hortalizas: what comes from a "huerto/huerta" (garden)
verduras: usually the the green "hortalizas".
vegetales: All plants. "Animales y vegetales"
As Robin explained, the "Not-green" hortalizas are lentints, chickpeas, potatoe s and so on.

RAE

hortaliza. (De hortal).
1. f. Planta comestible que se cultiva en las huertas. U. m. en pl.
verdura.
2. f. Hortaliza, especialmente la de hojas verdes.

vegetal.
1. adj. Que vegeta.
2. adj. Perteneciente o relativo a las plantas.
3. m. Ser orgánico que crece y vive, pero no muda de lugar por impulso voluntario.
4. m. pl. En Puerto Rico. Hortalizas en general.

In the everyday use, hortalizas & verduras are similar.
Vegetales can be all (a sequoia/baoba is a vegetal), but speaking about kitchen, the "good" vegetables are the verduras/hortalizas (In Puerto Rico is already accepted)


Hope it helps.
Saludos

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Around here, "hortalizas" and "legumbres" are edible vegetables being cultivated.
"Verduras" are edible vegetables when they're to be bought or served.
"Vegetales" are all kinds of plants, even though the latest fashion in some middle-class environments is to use "vegetales" for those served in salads.