apunte
nounCEFR B1
What does “apunte” mean in English?
note
note (study note; almost always plural: los apuntes = class notes)
Example sentences
En clase de literatura, tomo tantos apuntes que al final no tengo tiempo de procesar lo que he escrito; necesito aprender a seleccionar la información más importante.
In literature class, I take so many notes that in the end I don't have time to process what I've written; I need to learn to select the most important information.
¿Me puedes pasar los apuntes de la clase del martes? Tuve que salir antes y no pude copiar todo lo que explicó el profesor sobre los verbos irregulares.
Can you send me the notes from Tuesday's class? I had to leave early and couldn't copy down everything the teacher explained about irregular verbs.
Mis apuntes del semestre pasado eran tan caóticos que los reescribí todos en un cuaderno ordenado antes de empezar a repasar para los exámenes finales.
My notes from last semester were so chaotic that I rewrote them all in a tidy notebook before starting to revise for the final exams.
How to use it
Apunte (masculine) means 'note' — a written record made during a class, lecture, or while studying. It is almost always used in the plural (los apuntes) when referring to a set of class notes as a whole, similar to how English says 'my notes' rather than 'my note'. The singular un apunte can be used for a single brief remark or observation. Key collocations: tomar apuntes (to take notes), copiar los apuntes (to copy notes), repasar los apuntes (to revise notes), apuntes de clase (class notes), apuntes ordenados/desordenados (tidy/messy notes).
Common mistake
Apuntes (plural) is the normal form for a set of class notes. Don't use *notas to mean notes in this sense — las notas most commonly means 'grades/marks' in Spain. To 'take notes' is tomar apuntes, not *hacer apuntes (which is less standard) or *escribir notas. The false friend 'notes' → notas could cause you to write the wrong word in an exam context.