Breakdown of La abogada habla con mi familia sobre la justicia.
Questions & Answers about La abogada habla con mi familia sobre la justicia.
La abogada is the feminine form of el abogado (lawyer).
- La = the (for feminine singular nouns)
- Abogada = female lawyer (feminine form of abogado)
You use la abogada when you are talking about a woman.
You would say el abogado when you are talking about a man.
So in this sentence, the lawyer is understood to be a woman, which is why la abogada is used. You can’t mix them (❌ la abogado, ❌ el abogada).
Habla is the present tense, third-person singular form of hablar (to speak / to talk).
- hablar = to speak (infinitive)
- hablo = I speak (yo)
- habla = he/she speaks, or you (usted) speak
In this sentence, the subject is la abogada (she), so the verb must be habla:
- La abogada habla… = The (female) lawyer speaks / is speaking…
Yes. Spanish simple present often covers both meanings:
- La abogada habla con mi familia sobre la justicia.
- She speaks with my family about justice.
- She is speaking with my family about justice.
If you really want to emphasize that it’s happening right now, you can also say:
- La abogada está hablando con mi familia… = The lawyer is talking with my family…
But in everyday speech in Latin America, habla is very commonly used for both.
Spanish is a “null-subject” language: you usually don’t need subject pronouns because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.
- Habla already shows it’s he / she / usted.
- We also explicitly have la abogada as the subject.
So La abogada habla… is complete and natural.
You could say Ella habla con mi familia…, but then you wouldn’t usually also repeat la abogada right after it. You’d say either:
- Ella habla con mi familia… (She speaks…)
or - La abogada habla con mi familia… (The lawyer speaks…)
Ella la abogada habla… is not natural.
In Spanish, mi/mis agree in number (singular/plural) with the noun:
- mi = my (singular noun)
- mis = my (plural noun)
Familia is grammatically singular (even though it refers to several people), so you must use mi:
- mi familia = my family (one family)
- mis familias = my families (more than one family – rare, special context)
So mi familia is correct.
No, mi does not change for gender, only for number.
- mi mamá = my mom
- mi papá = my dad
- mi casa = my house
- mi libro = my book
And plural:
- mis amigos = my (male/mixed) friends
- mis amigas = my (female) friends
So mi familia is correct regardless of whether the family members are male or female.
The preposition is determined by the verb:
- hablar con alguien = to talk with someone
- hablar a alguien = to talk to someone (more one-directional, like addressing or lecturing them)
In your sentence, con mi familia is linked to habla con (speaks with), so you must use con, not a.
If you changed the verb to another pattern, you might use a:
- La abogada le explica la situación a mi familia. = The lawyer explains the situation to my family.
Here, explicar algo a alguien naturally takes a.
They answer different questions:
¿Con quién? (With whom?)
- hablar con alguien = to talk with someone
- La abogada habla con mi familia… = The lawyer talks with my family…
- hablar con alguien = to talk with someone
¿De qué? / ¿Sobre qué? (About what?)
- hablar de algo = to talk about something
- hablar sobre algo = to talk about / regarding something (often a bit more formal)
- …sobre la justicia. = …about justice.
- …de la justicia. = …about justice.
You can combine them like in your sentence:
- hablar con mi familia sobre la justicia
= talk with my family about justice.
Both are correct and very common:
- hablar de la justicia
- hablar sobre la justicia
In most everyday contexts, they mean the same: to talk about justice.
Nuance:
- sobre can sound a little more formal or focused on the topic (regarding / on the subject of).
- de is the more general, very frequent choice for “about.”
In Latin American Spanish, you will hear both all the time. Your sentence is perfectly natural.
Spanish often uses the definite article with abstract nouns, where English does not:
- la justicia = justice
- la libertad = freedom
- el amor = love
So:
- Habla sobre la justicia. = She speaks about justice.
Leaving out the article (habla sobre justicia) is possible in some contexts, but it sounds less usual and more technical or stylistic. Sobre la justicia is the normal, natural form.
Yes, justicia (the concept of justice) is always feminine:
- la justicia = justice
It’s a noun ending in -cia, and these are almost always feminine in Spanish:
- la democracia = democracy
- la policía = police
- la paciencia = patience
There is a rare, old-fashioned word el justicia in some historical or regional uses meaning a specific kind of judge/official, but in modern general Spanish, justice (as a concept) is always la justicia.
Key points:
h is silent:
- habla → a-bla
b (in habla, abogada) sounds like English b, but between vowels it’s softer, like a smooth b/v.
abogada:
- stress on ga: a-bo-GA-da
familia:
- stress on mi: fa-MI-lya
- lia sounds like lya (the i and a blend a bit).
justicia:
- j is like a strong h sound: , from the throat: hu-STE-sya (approx.)
- stress on ti: jus-TI-cia
So a rough English-friendly approximation:
- La abogada habla con mi familia sobre la justicia.
→ La a-bo-GA-da A-bla kon mi fa-MI-lya SO-bre la hus-TI-sya.