Tengo nueve libros verdes en mi mochila.

the book

Breakdown of Tengo nueve libros verdes en mi mochila.

• yo: I
• en: in
• mi: my

Questions & Answers about Tengo nueve libros verdes en mi mochila.

Why is the adjective verdes placed after the noun libros, whereas in English we say “green books”?

In Spanish most descriptive adjectives follow the noun they modify. So you say libros verdes (literally “books green”) instead of verde libros. This order can change emphasis or style, but the standard pattern is noun + adjective.

Why does verdes end in -es rather than -e?

Adjectives in Spanish must agree in gender and number with the noun. Here libros is masculine plural, so verde (singular) takes an -s to become verdes (plural). If it were one green book, you’d say libro verde.

Why do we use tengo instead of tienes or tiene?

Tengo is the first-person-singular form of tener (“to have”), so it means “I have.”

• tienes = you have (informal, tú)
• tiene = he/she has or you have (formal, usted)

Why is nueve placed before libros?