misma

Misma is the feminine singular form of the Spanish adjective and pronoun usually translated as "the same" or "the very." It is used to indicate identity, sameness, or approximation with a feminine noun or with a previously mentioned idea. The masculine form is mismo, and the forms mismas and mismos exist for feminine and masculine plural nouns, respectively.

As an adjective, misma agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies: la misma casa, una mujer de la misma edad. It can appear before the noun (la misma idea) or after it for emphasis (la idea, misma). In many contexts, the position of the word can subtly affect emphasis or rhythm.

As a pronoun, misma can stand in for a feminine noun when the noun is understood from context, as in la misma (the same one). The neuter form lo mismo is used to refer to the same thing or action previously mentioned: lo mismo happened again, lo mismo que dijiste.

Important related forms include cuidado with the masculine and plural variants: mismo/misma, mismos/mismas. The phrase da lo mismo means “it makes no difference” or “it’s all the same,” illustrating a common idiom in which the concept of sameness extends beyond a specific noun.

Common expressions and nuances include using misma to emphasize identity or repetition: la misma historia (the same old story) and la persona misma (the person themselves). In contrast, lo mismo tends to refer to actions or abstractions rather than a concrete noun.

Etymology places misma within the family of Romance languages, deriving from Latin roots related to sameness and self-reference, and it shares this meaning across many Spanish-speaking contexts.