Word
La ropa puede encogerse.
Meaning
The clothes can shrink.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
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Questions & Answers about La ropa puede encogerse.
Why is ropa singular if the meaning is clothes?
In Spanish, ropa is usually a singular collective noun. It refers to clothing in general as one mass/category, not as separate individual items.
So Spanish says:
La ropa está limpia = The clothes are clean
La ropa puede encogerse = Clothes can shrink
This is similar to English clothing, which is also grammatically singular.
If you want to talk about individual items, you would use a plural noun such as las prendas, las camisas, los pantalones, etc.
Why is it puede and not pueden?
Why do we use la in la ropa? English often just says clothes without an article.