Mi hijo corre rápido en el parque.

My son runs fast in the park.

Breakdown of Mi hijo corre rápido en el parque.

• en: in
• mi: my
• el parque: the park
• correr: to run

Questions & Answers about Mi hijo corre rápido en el parque.

Why is mi used instead of mío before hijo?

Mi is a possessive adjective that goes directly before the noun and only changes for plural (mis). Mío is a possessive pronoun used after a noun or with an article (e.g. el regalo es mío). To say “my son” in a neutral statement, you use mi hijo, not hijo mío.

How do we know corre means “he runs” here and not “you (formal) run”?

In the present tense, él/ella and usted share the same ending -e. Context tells you that the subject is mi hijo (“my son”), so corre is interpreted as “he runs” rather than “you run.”

What part of speech is rápido in this sentence, and why doesn’t it change for gender or number?

Here rápido is an adverb modifying the verb corre, so it never agrees in gender or number. If it were an adjective modifying a noun (e.g. un carro rápido), it would change for gender (rápida) or number (rápidos).

Could I use rápidamente instead of rápido, and how are adverbs of manner formed?