# Sopa vs Caldo
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopa-vs-caldo/487065
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 23, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopa-vs-caldo/487065 "2009-02-23T16:47:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopa-vs-caldo/487065/1 "2009-02-23T16:47:48Z")
I’ve been enjoying tasty soups from around the world (from the Soup Peddler), and have noticed that those from Spanish-speaking regions are called either _sopa_ (Sopa las Mananitas, Sopa de Albondigas, etc.) or _caldo_ (Caldo de Pollo, Caldo Verde, etc.). Can any foodie and/or Spanish speaker enlighten me as to the difference between the meanings of the two terms, if any?
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopa-vs-caldo/487065/2 "2009-02-23T17:11:19Z")
Moving from GQ to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
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### Author:  [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopa-vs-caldo/487065/3 "2009-02-23T17:15:32Z")
My Guatemalan girlfriend says she was taught _caldo_ is when it’s mostly broth and less viscous, while _sopa_ tends to have more vegetables and whatnot in it, making it thicker. Although she notes that what they call Caldo de Pollo in Guatemala may be called Sopa de Pollo in Mexico, so there’s not necessarily a universal mathematical standard for determining the distinction.
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### Author:  [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopa-vs-caldo/487065/4 "2009-02-23T18:06:53Z")
And be aware that _sopa seca_s can be a dish of rice or noodles without broth. I was eating with a particularly arrogant team member who insisted on ordering a sopa seca even after I told him it was not soup. “Of course it is, it says ‘sopa’”.
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### Author:  [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sopa-vs-caldo/487065/5 "2009-02-23T18:12:20Z")
> [@DanBlather](#):
>
> And be aware that _sopa seca_s can be a dish of rice or noodles without broth. I was eating with a particularly arrogant team member who insisted on ordering a sopa seca even after I told him it was not soup. “Of course it is, it says ‘sopa’”.
Well he might have known what sopa means but someone should have pointed out that seca means “dry”. I agree with **Rigamarole** s guatemalan GF, sopa is thicker and with more “stuff”.