Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): El niño valiente cruza la calle solo.

In Spanish ñ is considered a separate letter (not just an n with a mark). It represents the palatal nasal sound /ɲ/ (similar to the “ny” in English “canyon”). Without the tilde, niño would be spelled nino, which is incorrect and would change pronunciation.

Why is the definite article el used before niño?

Spanish normally requires a definite article before a specific noun. Here el makes it clear we’re talking about a particular boy (“the boy”) rather than boys in general. English often omits “the” in similar contexts, but Spanish uses it consistently with singular countable nouns.

Why does the adjective valiente come after niño instead of before?

Most descriptive adjectives in Spanish follow the noun they modify: • niño valiente = “brave boy”
• Placing the adjective before (e.g. valiente niño) shifts the emphasis or adds a poetic/stylistic nuance. In neutral, everyday speech, you’ll usually find the adjective after the noun.

How do I know that solo means “alone” here, not “only”?

Position and context both matter: • El niño cruza la calle solo → solo comes after the verb and refers back to the subject (the boy), so it means “alone.”
• If you wrote El niño solo cruza la calle, solo would precede the verb and most likely mean “only,” implying “the boy only crosses the street (and does nothing else).”
Modern Spanish no longer uses an accent on solo, even when it means “only,” so word order and context are your best clues.

Why is the verb cruza spelled with a z and ending in -a?

This is the present‐tense, third‐person singular form of cruzar (to cross): • Stem: cruz-
• Ending for él/ella/usted: -a
Spanish verbs ending in -zar change z→c before an e (e.g. cruce in subjunctive), but before a the z stays the same, giving cruza.

Why is there no preposition before la calle?

In Spanish cruzar is a transitive verb when you’re crossing something; it takes a direct object. So you say cruza la calle (cross the street) without adding por or a través de. If you wanted to emphasize the path, you could say cruza por la calle, but it’s not required.

How do gender and number agreement work in this sentence?

• niño is masculine singular → article el
• valiente is an adjective that doesn’t change for gender (ends in -e), so it stays valiente for both masculine and feminine.
• calle is feminine singular → article la
• solo as “alone” here functions adverbially and stays invariable. If you used solo adjectivally before/after a noun (e.g. niño solo, niña sola), it would agree in gender.