Veo ocho carros en la calle.

I see eight cars on the street.

Breakdown of Veo ocho carros en la calle.

• yo: I
• la calle: the street
• en: on
• ver: to see
• el carro: the car
• ocho: eight

Questions & Answers about Veo ocho carros en la calle.

Why is veo used instead of miro?

In Spanish there are two common verbs related to sight:

• ver (to see): refers to the mere fact of perceiving something with your eyes.
• mirar (to look at/watch): emphasizes the action of directing your gaze intentionally.

Since Veo ocho carros… means “I see eight cars…” (you simply perceive them), you use the first-person singular present of ver, which is veo. If you wanted to say “I’m looking at eight cars,” you would say Miro ocho carros.

Why is there no article before ocho carros?

In Spanish you normally omit the indefinite article when you quantify with a number:
• English: “I see eight cars.”
• Spanish: “Veo ocho carros.”

Adding unos before the number (e.g. Veo unos ocho carros) changes the meaning to “I see about eight cars.”

Why does ocho come before carros, rather than after?

Spanish places cardinal numbers (uno, dos, tres, ocho…) before the noun they modify. That’s the standard word order:
[number] + [noun] → ocho carros.

By contrast, certain quantifiers (like pocos, muchos) can come before or after, but strict numbers always precede the noun.

Why is the word carros used instead of coches or autos?

Spanish vocabulary varies by region:
• In much of Latin America, carro is the most common word for “car.”
• In Spain, you’ll hear coche.
• Auto (short for automóvil) is also common in parts of Latin America and formal writing.

Since the sentence is labeled “Latin America,” carros is perfectly natural there.

Why is carros plural?

Whenever you have a number greater than one in Spanish, the noun must be in its plural form.
• 1 carro (singular)
• 2, 3, …, 8 carros (plural)

Even with cero, you usually use the plural (e.g. cero carros).

What does en mean in en la calle, and why is it used?

En is the preposition that typically expresses “in,” “on” or “at” when talking about location. Here it translates as “on/the” or “in the,” depending on context.

• en la calle = “on the street” (as the location where you see the cars)

You wouldn’t use a here, because a la calle implies movement “to the street.” You wouldn’t use por unless you meant “along the street.”

Why is la used before calle, and why isn’t there a contraction like en la → enla?

Calle is a feminine noun, so it takes the feminine definite article la. Spanish only contracts a + el → al and de + el → del.

Since la is feminine, en + la remains en la. There is no contraction with feminine definite articles.

What exactly does calle refer to in this context?

Calle means a “street” in a town or city—usually paved, with sidewalks, traffic lights, addresses, etc. If you wanted “highway” or “rural road,” you might use carretera, autopista or camino instead.

How is Veo ocho carros en la calle different from Hay ocho carros en la calle?

• Veo ocho carros en la calle = “I see eight cars on the street.” (I’m describing what I perceive right now.)
• Hay ocho carros en la calle = “There are eight cars on the street.” (A more neutral existence statement, without emphasizing your act of seeing.)

In other words, veo focuses on your personal action of seeing; hay simply states that those cars exist or are present.

How would you say “I see zero cars” in Spanish, and why?

You would say Veo cero carros. Even though it’s zero, you keep the noun in the plural after the number:
• 0 carros (not 0 carro)

This parallels how you treat numbers greater than one.