Breakdown of Mi sobrino juega con su pelota en el parque.
en
in
con
with
mi
my
su
his
el parque
the park
jugar
to play
la pelota
the ball
el sobrino
the nephew
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Questions & Answers about Mi sobrino juega con su pelota en el parque.
What part of speech is sobrino, and how do gender and number work for nouns like this in Spanish?
sobrino is a common noun meaning “nephew.”
- Gender: It’s masculine because it ends in -o. To make it feminine, you change it to sobrina (“niece”).
- Number: It’s singular here. To form the plural you add -s: sobrinos or sobrinas.
Which tense, mood, and person is juega?
juega is the third person singular (él/ella/usted) of the present indicative of jugar (“to play”).
- Tense: Present
- Mood: Indicative (used for statements of fact)
- Person/Number: él/ella/usted (singular)
Why is it juega and not juegan?
Because the subject mi sobrino is singular. If you had mis sobrinos (“my nephews”), you would use juegan:
- Mis sobrinos juegan con sus pelotas en el parque.
Why do we use con in juega con su pelota? Could another preposition work?
- con means “with,” showing the tool or object he’s playing with (his ball).
- You wouldn’t use a here, because jugar a is reserved for games or sports (jugar al fútbol).
- You also wouldn’t say jugar en or jugar de in this context.
Could we say jugar la pelota instead of jugar con la pelota?
You could hear jugar la pelota in some regions, but it’s less precise.
- Standard Latin American Spanish prefers jugar con la pelota to emphasize “playing with the ball” as an object, not “playing a ball game.”
What does su refer to in this sentence? How do we know whose ball it is?
su is a third-person possessive adjective. Here, it refers back to mi sobrino (the subject), meaning “his ball.” If context changed, su could also mean “her,” “your” (formal), or “their,” so clarity often depends on context.
Why is there a definite article el before parque? Could you omit it?
Spanish generally requires the definite article with locations: en el parque = “in the park.”
- Omitting it (en parque) would sound ungrammatical.
- You could say al parque (a + el) when expressing motion toward: Vamos al parque (“Let’s go to the park”).
When would you use al parque instead of en el parque?
- al parque (a + el) = “to the park,” indicating movement toward the park. Example: Llevo a mi sobrino al parque.
- en el parque = “in the park,” indicating position or where something happens.
What’s the difference between pelota and bola?
- pelota usually refers to a soft or medium-sized ball for sports and games (soccer ball, tennis ball).
- bola is more general and can imply a hard sphere (bowling ball, ball bearing) or abstract uses (“bola de nieve” = “snowball”).
Can I move en el parque to the beginning of the sentence? What changes?
Yes. Putting it first shifts the focus to location:
- En el parque, mi sobrino juega con su pelota.
Emphasis is now on “in the park” rather than “my nephew.” The meaning stays the same; it’s just a stylistic choice.