Breakdown of Mi abuela hierve agua y prepara té con mermelada casera; mientras tanto, yo pongo los platos.
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Questions & Answers about Mi abuela hierve agua y prepara té con mermelada casera; mientras tanto, yo pongo los platos.
Why is it hierve and not something like hervir, hierven, or hierva?
- Hierve is the 3rd person singular present indicative of hervir (to boil): yo hiervo, tú hierves, él/ella/usted hierve, nosotros hervimos, ustedes/ellos hierven. It’s an e→ie stem‑changer (except in nosotros/vosotros).
- Hervir is the infinitive.
- Hierven is plural (they/you all boil).
- Hierva is present subjunctive or formal command (e.g., “Boil the water, ma’am”: ¡Hierva el agua!).
Why is there no article before agua? Should it be el agua?
- You can say either hervir agua (boil water, generic/unspecified) or hervir el agua (boil the water, specific/known).
- Here it’s a generic activity, so omitting the article is natural: hierve agua.
Is agua masculine or feminine? Why do people say el agua?
- Agua is feminine. It takes the masculine article el in the singular to avoid the aa sound: el agua, but it stays feminine for agreement: el agua fría.
- In the plural, it’s regular: las aguas frías.
- With other determiners, it stays feminine: esta agua, mucha agua; but with some short adjectives/articles you’ll see the masculine form: un agua, algún agua, by the same sound-avoidance rule.