Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): La carretera cerca del río tiene muchas curvas. - The highway near the river has many curves.

In Spanish, to express “near something” you always use the preposition de after cerca. Since río is a masculine singular noun, de + el contracts to del. You cannot drop the de, and you must contract de el into del.

What does the contraction del mean?

Del is simply de + el.
• de means “of” or “from”
• el is the masculine singular definite article “the”
Put together, del means “of the” or “from the.”

Why is la used before carretera, and why does río also have an article?

• Carretera is a feminine noun, so it takes la (“the road”).
• Río is masculine, so it takes el. In the sentence it appears as del río because of the contraction de + el.
Spanish generally requires definite articles before countable, specific nouns.

Why is tiene used here instead of hay?

Tiene comes from tener (“to have”) and attributes a characteristic to the road: “the road has many curves.”
By contrast, hay expresses existence: “there are many curves on the road.” Both are grammatically correct, but
• La carretera cerca del río tiene muchas curvas. focuses on the road’s feature.
• Hay muchas curvas en la carretera cerca del río. just states that curves exist there.

Why do we say muchas curvas and not muy curvas?

• Muchas is an adjective meaning “many,” used with countable nouns like curvas (curves).
• Muy is an adverb that modifies adjectives or other adverbs (e.g., muy grande, muy rápidamente), not nouns.
So to say “many curves,” you need muchas curvas.

Could we change the word order to La carretera tiene muchas curvas cerca del río? Is that correct?

Yes, it’s grammatically correct:
“La carretera tiene muchas curvas cerca del río.”
The meaning stays the same, but the emphasis shifts:
• Original order (location first) highlights where the road is.
• Revised order highlights what the road has before mentioning location.

Can we use ruta, camino, or autopista instead of carretera?

Yes, depending on context:
• Ruta often means “route” or a designated path—common in Latin America.
• Camino refers to a smaller road or even a trail.
• Autopista is a high-speed highway (often tolled or divided).
Use carretera for a standard paved intercity road; choose the alternative if it better fits the type of road you have in mind.

Why does río have an accent on the í?

The accent on í in río indicates a hiatus: the vowels i and o belong to separate syllables (rí-o) and shows that the stress falls on the first syllable. Without the accent, Spanish might treat io as a diphthong and misplace the stress.