Meaning & use
telenovelas
Last updated
“telenovelas” is a form of “telenovela”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nouncountable
A long-running television drama series, especially one made in Latin America, with a romantic story told in many episodes.
Grammar: Countable: one telenovela, two telenovelas; use an or the before the singular.
Patterns
- watch a telenovela
- a telenovela about someone
- star in a telenovela
My grandmother watches telenovelas every evening after dinner.
The new telenovela has been sold to channels in more than thirty countries.
Critics say this telenovela mixes romance with serious social issues.
noununcountable
The genre or style of such serials, thought of as a whole.
Grammar: No plural and no a/a when it names the genre: the influence of telenovela on streaming drama.
Patterns
- the world of telenovela
- influenced by telenovela
Streaming services have borrowed heavily from telenovela.
Her research looks at how telenovela shapes ideas about family.
Word forms
| singular | telenovela |
|---|
Common combinations
- watch a telenovela
- They watch a telenovela together every night.
- a popular telenovela
- A popular telenovela can run for a year or more.
- star in a telenovela
- He starred in a telenovela before moving to films.
- a Mexican telenovela
- A Mexican telenovela was dubbed into English.
- the final episode of a telenovela
- Millions tuned in for the final episode of the telenovela.
Synonyms and how they differ
- soap opera
- The general English term for any continuing TV drama; use it when the show is not Latin American or when your reader may not know telenovela.
- serial
- A neutral, broader word for any story told in continuing episodes; it does not suggest romance or Latin America.
- drama series
- A neutral term used in TV listings; it fits formal writing better than telenovela.
Word family
- telenovela noun
- The singular form of the same word.
Commonly confused: telenovelas or novella?
telenovelas vs novella
A novella is a short novel, a printed story, not a TV series. The similar sound makes the two easy to mix up.
Practice
Which sentence uses the word correctly?
Choose one answer.
Telenovelas is a plural countable noun, so 'the telenovelas we had seen' works. Option A wrongly puts a plural noun before another noun as a modifier, option B uses the noun for a person, and option D uses it as a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “telenovelas”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.