El delfín nada en el mar.

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Breakdown of El delfín nada en el mar.

• nadar: to swim
• el mar: the sea
• el delfín: the dolphin

Questions & Answers about El delfín nada en el mar.

Why is there a definite article (El) before delfín?

In Spanish, El is the masculine singular definite article (equivalent to the in English). Spanish uses articles more consistently than English. Here El delfín means the dolphin. If you wanted to say a dolphin, you would use the indefinite article Un delfín nada en el mar.

Why does delfín have an accent on the í?

Spanish accent rules dictate where the stress falls. Words ending in a vowel, n, or s are normally stressed on the penultimate syllable. delfín ends in n but the stress is on the last syllable, so we add an accent mark: del-FÍN. Without it, Spanish speakers would pronounce it as DEL-fin.

What form of the verb is nada here?

Here, nada is the third person singular present indicative of nadar (to swim). It means he/she/it swims. So El delfín nada = The dolphin swims.

But nada also means nothing. How do I know which meaning to choose?