puerta
door
A door, gate, or any opening that allows entry or exit
Encoding Strategies:
linguistic
visual
portal
gateway / entrance
+
-a
noun suffix
(feminine)
Puerta means door and is a cognate of the English word portal0 — think of a portal as any opening you pass through, just like a door.
puerta
door
The most common use — a door into a building, room, or vehicle.
- Cierra la puerta al salir = Close the door when you leave
- Alguien llamó a la puerta en medio de la noche = Someone knocked on the door in the middle of the night
gate (outdoor / large)
A gate is really just a large outdoor door, so in Spanish it's still a puerta.
- Los pasajeros deben dirigirse a la puerta cinco = Passengers should proceed to gate five
- El guardia abrió la puerta del jardín = The guard opened the garden gate
goal, net (sports)
In soccer, the goal is the opening you're trying to get the ball through — just like a door.
- El delantero disparó a puerta desde fuera del área = The forward shot at goal from outside the box
- El portero defendió la puerta con una gran parada = The goalkeeper defended the net with a great save