Breakdown of El espejo nuevo en el pasillo hace que la casa parezca más grande.
grande
big
en
in
nuevo
new
más
more
que
that
la casa
the house
hacer
to do, to make
parecer
to seem
el espejo
the mirror
el pasillo
the hallway
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Questions & Answers about El espejo nuevo en el pasillo hace que la casa parezca más grande.
Why is nuevo placed after espejo instead of before?
In Spanish, most descriptive adjectives follow the noun (structure: [noun] + [adjective]). Placing nuevo after espejo simply describes one of its qualities (“a mirror that is new”) without any additional nuance.
Could nuevo be placed before espejo, and would the meaning change?
Yes, you could say un nuevo espejo, but putting nuevo before the noun often suggests “another” or “a different one,” whereas un espejo nuevo (post-noun) stresses that it’s brand-new.
Why is the verb parezca in the subjunctive mood instead of parece?
Spanish uses the subjunctive after certain expressions of causation. The phrase hacer que (“to make/cause”) requires the subordinate verb to be in the subjunctive when expressing an effect or result that isn’t a concrete fact. Hence hace que la casa parezca… uses parezca (present subjunctive of parecer).
What role does que play in hace que la casa parezca?
That que is a conjunction tying the main clause (El espejo… hace) to the result clause (la casa parezca). It’s part of the causative structure hacer que.
How does the hacer que + subjunctive construction work in Spanish?
Format: Subject + hacer que + New subject + Verb in subjunctive. It means “to cause/make (something happen).”
Example: El ruido hace que no duerma (“The noise makes me not sleep”).
How do you form comparatives like más grande in Spanish? Do you need another que?
Comparatives use más (more) or menos (less) before the adjective: más grande, menos caro. You only add que if you explicitly compare two entities: más grande que mi casa (“bigger than my house”). In the original sentence the comparison is implied, so no extra que follows.
Why do we say en el pasillo instead of del pasillo?
En el pasillo means “in the hallway” (location). Del pasillo would mean “of/from the hallway,” changing the meaning. Spanish uses en for “located in.”
Could we express the same idea using gracias a instead of hace que? What’s the nuance?
Yes: La casa parece más grande gracias al espejo nuevo en el pasillo.
Using gracias a (“thanks to”) highlights a positive cause or benefit, while hace que emphasizes a direct causal action (“makes/causes the house to appear larger”).