El pie de gato mejora el agarre.

to improve

Breakdown of El pie de gato mejora el agarre.

• el pie de gato: the climbing shoe
• el agarre: the grip

Questions & Answers about El pie de gato mejora el agarre.

Why does pie de gato mean a climbing shoe in Spain?

In Spain, pie de gato is the normal term climbers use for a climbing shoe. Literally, it looks like cat foot, but it is a fixed expression, not something you usually translate word for word. In other varieties of Spanish, you may also hear zapatilla de escalada, but pie de gato / pies de gato is especially common in Spain.

Why is it el pie de gato and not la pie de gato?

Because pie is a masculine noun: el pie. The whole expression takes its gender from the main noun, pie. Spanish noun gender is not always predictable from the ending, so even though pie ends in -e, it is still masculine.

Why is it de gato and not del gato?

Because de gato describes the type of thing, not something belonging to a specific cat.

• de gato = cat-type / cat-related as part of the name
• del gato = de + el = of the cat / belonging to the cat

So pie de gato is like a fixed label, similar to:

• zumo de naranja
• gafas de sol
• casa de campo

Why is pie de gato singular here?