adjectives for “same thing” vs. “same kind of thing”

Question

In German,

• das gleiche refers to

  We both read the same (das gleiche) book (everyone has its own, but they look exactly the same)

• while das selbe refers to

  We both read the same book (one book, e.g. sharing, borrowing your book to your friend, the same object)

Does this differentiation exist in Spanish in contrast to English? I only found lo mismo, which is translated as das selbe/gleiche in my dictionary. Are there other adjectives that differ between the same object/same kind of object? Or what is the shortest way in Spanish to express this connotation?

Answer 1

As others have stated "leímos el libro" is always ambiguous. However you could use "leímos el mismo ejemplar del libro" or "leímos la misma copia del libro" if you want to express what das selbe means.

Answer 2

There is no such distinction in the Spanish language, where to achieve the difference in concept present in German (gleich / selbst) you must use other means:

• Dealing with books you can state de difference between libro (the phisical copy) and obra (what is actually read at last):

Leímos el mismo libro.  →  (possible ambiguity)
Leímos la misma obra.  →  (a bit more clear)

Answer 3

If I understand correctly the differentiation, das gleiche would refer to things that belong to the same genre, or that are equal in some respect, while das selbe points to true identity (same individual). I don't think there is a word, not even a well stablished expression, to convey this (important) nuance in Spanish: "el mismo" (determinate) (or "lo mismo" - undeterminate) is used both for identity or for equality. The adjective "idéntico" doesn't help, either; it doesn't implies individual identity (rather on the contrary, I'd say: it normally emphasizes a great similarity.. between two different individuals). So, the expression

Ella y yo leímos el mismo libro.

is hopelessly ambiguous. If I'd want to clarify that I'm not meaning just the same novel, but the same book, materially speaking... I'd say so:

Ella y yo leímos el mismo libro, materialmente hablando.