bolsa/bolso

Question

I've been saying "bolsa" for a year and a half but I just saw a lesson example that used "bolso." A search showed many instances of both. Is it a regional difference, or is there a grammatical rule in play?

Answer

Hola WilliamIn Peninsular Spanish we use "bolso" to refer to a "handbag" and "bolsa" to refer to a plastic bag for groceries, or any kind of bag where you put things when you go shopping, normally a plastic bag or a paper bag. If you tell me where you saw this in Kwiziq I can check and see it it allows any other meaning, for example, in Mexico they may use "bolsa" to refer to a wallet/purse. We can check that if you tell us the exercise you came across. SaludosInma