Apples and oranges in Spanish

Berges Institute • Aug 4, 2022 • 1 minute
Updated Aug 4, 2022
Apples and oranges in Spanish
The Graf Method for Spanish Language

Download a PDF version of The Graf Method for Spanish Language, Vol.1 for free!

In this volume, we discuss the alphabet, definite and indefinite articles, and verbs ser and estar, among other topics.

Here is an interesting expression in Spanish:

¡Estás mezclando churras con merinas!

(You are mixing churras and merinas!)

It is (more or less) equivalent to the English expression mixing (or comparing) apples and oranges: we use it when we want to let a person know that he or she is comparing two items or topics that are incommensurable.

So what is a churra and what is a merina?

This idiomatic expression is mostly used in Spain, as churras and merinas happen to be the two most prevalent types of sheep in the country.

Here is a picture of some churras:

Churra sheep

And here are some merinas:

Merina sheep

As we can see, they are obviously very different types of sheep, and thus we should never try to compare them :)

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