Minuto vs. minuta
Although they look almost identical, the Spanish words minuto and minuta have completely different meanings. The main distinction lies in their gender and context: minuto is masculine and refers to time, while minuta is feminine and refers to different types of documents or food preparation.
Minuto
A1Minuto is a masculine noun that exclusively refers to a unit of time equal to sixty seconds. This is the word you always use when talking about the passage of time.
La reunión empezará en diez minutos.
(The meeting will start in ten minutes.)
Por favor, espera solo un minuto.
(Please, wait just one minute.)
El autobús pasa cada quince minutos.
(The bus passes every fifteen minutes.)
Hierve el agua durante un minuto antes de agregar la pasta.
(Boil the water for one minute before adding the pasta.)
Me tomó un minuto recordar su nombre.
(It took me a minute to remember his name.)
Minuta
B2Minuta is a feminine noun that has several distinct meanings, none of which are related to a unit of time. It most commonly refers to the official written record of a meeting, a rough draft of a document, or, in a culinary context, food that is cooked quickly to order.
La secretaria está preparando la minuta de la junta directiva.
(The secretary is preparing the minutes of the board meeting.)
El abogado preparó una minuta del acuerdo para que la revisáramos.
(The lawyer prepared a draft of the agreement for us to review.)
En ese restaurante sirven platos a la minuta.
(That restaurant serves dishes cooked to order.)
¿Podrías enviarme por correo la minuta de la reunión de ayer?
(Could you email me the minutes from yesterday's meeting?)
Hice una minuta de la carta de renuncia antes de escribir la versión final.
(I made a rough draft of the resignation letter before writing the final version.)
Para el almuerzo pediremos un bistec a la minuta con papas fritas.
(For lunch we will order a steak cooked to order with french fries.)
Summary
In short, the difference is fundamental: minuto (masculine) is always a unit of time (60 seconds). In contrast, minuta (feminine) is never a unit of time; it refers to a written text, such as the minutes of a meeting or a draft of a contract, or it can describe food that is cooked to order.