Breakdown of Mi prima quiere ser abogada porque le interesa la justicia.
Questions & Answers about Mi prima quiere ser abogada porque le interesa la justicia.
Mi (no accent) is a possessive adjective meaning my, placed before a noun:
- mi prima = my cousin
Mí (with accent) is a pronoun used after prepositions, meaning me:
- para mí = for me
- a mí no me gusta = I don’t like it
In the sentence, we need my cousin, so we use mi prima, not mí.
Spanish nouns usually have grammatical gender:
- primo = male cousin
- prima = female cousin
Spanish does not have a single gender‑neutral word for cousin in everyday use. You have to choose primo or prima depending on the person’s gender.
If you were talking about a male cousin, you would say:
- Mi primo quiere ser abogado…
Abogada is the feminine form of abogado (lawyer). It matches the gender of mi prima, who is female.
- Female: Mi prima quiere ser abogada.
- Male: Mi primo quiere ser abogado.
In many parts of Latin America today, people increasingly use feminine forms for professions when referring to women (abogada, doctora, ingeniera, presidenta, etc.). You might still hear abogado used generically, but abogada clearly indicates that the lawyer is a woman.
In Spanish, after ser (to be), you usually omit the indefinite article (un / una) when talking about someone’s profession, religion, or nationality in a general way:
- Es abogada. = She is a lawyer.
- Es médico. = He is a doctor.
- Soy estudiante. = I am a student.
You do use un / una if you add an adjective or make it more specific:
- Es una abogada excelente. = She is an excellent lawyer.
- Quiere ser una abogada famosa. = She wants to be a famous lawyer.
In the original sentence, quiere ser abogada is a general statement, so no una.
Spanish uses:
- ser for permanent or defining characteristics, like professions, identity, and inherent traits.
- estar for temporary states or locations.
A profession (lawyer) is considered part of someone’s identity, so you use ser:
- quiere ser abogada = she wants to be a lawyer
Using estar here (quiere estar abogada) would be incorrect.
When querer means to want to do something, it is followed directly by an infinitive, with no preposition between:
- Quiero comer. = I want to eat.
- Queremos viajar. = We want to travel.
- Mi prima quiere ser abogada. = My cousin wants to be a lawyer.
So quiere a ser is incorrect. It must be quiere ser.
Spanish often drops subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, ella, etc.) because the verb ending usually tells you who the subject is.
- quiere (3rd person singular) can mean he wants, she wants, or you (formal) want, depending on context.
In this sentence:
- Mi prima quiere ser abogada…
Mi prima is the subject, so there is no need to add ella:
- Ella quiere ser abogada. ✅ (also correct, but usually unnecessary here)
- Mi prima quiere ser abogada. ✅ (natural and typical)
Interesar is used in Spanish in a gustar‑type structure, which is almost the reverse of English:
- English idea: She is interested in justice.
- Literal Spanish structure: Justice interests her.
Pattern:
- A ella le interesa la justicia.
- la justicia = grammatical subject
- interesa = verb, agreeing with la justicia
- le = indirect object pronoun (to her)
So:
- Le interesa la justicia. = Justice interests her / She is interested in justice.
Ella interesa la justicia would mean She interests justice, which is not what you want and sounds wrong.
In Spanish pronouns:
- le = indirect object (to him, to her, to you formal)
- lo / la = direct object (him/it, her/it)
With interesar (like gustar), the person is the indirect object:
- A ella le interesa la justicia.
- le = to her
- la justicia = subject of the verb
So:
- Le interesa la justicia. = Justice is interesting to her.
Using la interesa would treat her as a direct object, which is not the structure used with interesar in this meaning.
The verb interesar agrees with the thing(s) that cause interest, not with the person:
- Le interesa la justicia.
- la justicia = singular → interesa
If the noun were plural, you’d use interesan:
- Le interesan las leyes. = Laws interest her / She is interested in laws.
- Nos interesan los derechos humanos. = We are interested in human rights.
Yes, both are correct, but the structures are different:
Le interesa la justicia.
- Literally: Justice interests her.
- Uses interesar with the indirect object pronoun le.
Está interesada en la justicia.
- Literally: She is interested in justice.
- Uses estar
- past participle interesada as an adjective.
- You would usually include the subject:
- Ella está interesada en la justicia.
Meaning is very similar; both are natural in Latin American Spanish. Le interesa la justicia sounds a bit more compact and very common in everyday speech.
Spanish often uses the definite article (el / la) with abstract nouns when referring to them in a general sense:
- la justicia = (the idea of) justice
- la libertad = freedom
- la educación = education
So:
- Le interesa la justicia. = She is interested in justice (as a concept).
You can sometimes omit the article in certain expressions or titles, but in a normal sentence like this, la justicia is the natural form.
porque (one word) = because
- Used to introduce a reason or cause.
- Mi prima quiere ser abogada porque le interesa la justicia.
por qué (two words, with accent) = why
- Used in direct and indirect questions.
- ¿Por qué quiere ser abogada? = Why does she want to be a lawyer?
- No sé por qué quiere ser abogada. = I don’t know why she wants to be a lawyer.
In the sentence, we are giving a reason, not asking a question, so we use porque.
Yes. That sentence is grammatically correct and natural:
- Porque le interesa la justicia, mi prima quiere ser abogada.
Putting the porque‑clause first is fine and sometimes used for emphasis or style. The meaning is the same:
- Mi prima quiere ser abogada porque le interesa la justicia.
- Porque le interesa la justicia, mi prima quiere ser abogada.
You would change the words that refer to the person’s gender:
- Mi primo quiere ser abogado porque le interesa la justicia.
Changes:
- prima → primo (female cousin → male cousin)
- abogada → abogado (female lawyer → male lawyer)
Le and la justicia stay the same, because they are not marking the cousin’s gender.
In Spanish, you use the present tense to talk about:
- current desires or plans, even if the result is in the future.
So:
- Mi prima quiere ser abogada = My cousin wants to be a lawyer (sometime in the future).
The wanting is happening now, so the verb is in the present.
If you wanted to highlight the process more, you could say:
- Mi prima quiere llegar a ser abogada. = My cousin wants to eventually become a lawyer.
But the simple quiere ser abogada is completely natural for future career goals.