En el equipo de fútbol, cada jugadora tiene una responsabilidad clara.

In the soccer team, each female player has a clear responsibility.

Breakdown of En el equipo de fútbol, cada jugadora tiene una responsabilidad clara.

• en: in
• de: of
• tener: to have
• cada: each, every
• una: a
• la responsabilidad: the responsibility
• claro: clear
• el equipo: the team
• el fútbol: the soccer
• la jugadora: the player

Questions & Answers about En el equipo de fútbol, cada jugadora tiene una responsabilidad clara.

Why is it jugadora and not jugador?

In Spanish, many nouns referring to people have a masculine and a feminine form:

• el jugador = the (male) player
• la jugadora = the (female) player

Because the sentence is talking about female players, it uses the feminine form jugadora.

If the team were mixed or all male, you would normally see:

• En el equipo de fútbol, cada jugador tiene una responsabilidad clara.

For a mixed group in general, Spanish uses the masculine plural:

• los jugadores = the players (mixed or all male)
• las jugadoras = the players (all female)

Why does it say cada jugadora tiene and not tienen?

The word cada (each/every) is always followed by a singular noun and a singular verb in Spanish:

• cada jugadora tiene (each player has)
• cada estudiante estudia (each student studies)

So you cannot say cada jugadora tienen. That would be ungrammatical.

If you want a plural subject and plural verb, you change the whole structure, for example:

• Todas las jugadoras tienen una responsabilidad clara.
  (All the players have a clear responsibility.)

Why is it una responsabilidad and not un responsabilidad?

Because responsabilidad is grammatically feminine in Spanish.

Articles must agree in gender and number with the noun:

• una responsabilidad (feminine singular)
• la responsabilidad (feminine singular, definite)
• unas responsabilidades (feminine plural)
• las responsabilidades (feminine plural, definite)

You only use un with masculine singular nouns:

• un problema
• un partido

So un responsabilidad would be incorrect.

Why is the adjective placed after the noun: responsabilidad clara instead of clara responsabilidad?

The neutral, most common position for descriptive adjectives in Spanish is after the noun:

• una responsabilidad clara = a responsibility that is clear / easy to understand
• un plan detallado = a detailed plan

Putting the adjective before the noun is also possible, but it often adds a more subjective, emphatic, or stylistic nuance:

• una clara responsabilidad
  This can sound more like “a clear/obvious responsibility,” with a bit more emphasis or a slightly more formal/poetic tone.

In everyday speech, una responsabilidad clara is more natural and straightforward.

Why is it clara and not claro?

Adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

• Noun: responsabilidad → feminine, singular
• Adjective: claro (masc. sing.), clara (fem. sing.)

So you need:

• una responsabilidad clara (feminine singular)

More examples:

• un problema serio (masc. sing.)
• una idea seria (fem. sing.)
• dos responsabilidades claras (fem. plural)

Why is it el equipo de fútbol and not un equipo de fútbol?

Both are possible; the choice depends on meaning:

• el equipo de fútbol = the soccer team (a specific, known team)
• un equipo de fútbol = a soccer team (any / some team, not specified)

The sentence as written suggests we are talking about a particular team that the speaker and listener probably know about. If you were speaking more generally, you could say:

• En un equipo de fútbol, cada jugadora tiene una responsabilidad clara.
  (In a soccer team / On a soccer team, each player has a clear responsibility.)

Why does fútbol have an accent, and how is it pronounced?

Fútbol has an accent on ú to show where the stress goes. It comes from English “football”, but Spanish adapted the spelling and pronunciation.

• Without the accent, futbol would normally be stressed on the last syllable: fut-BOL.
• With the accent, fútbol is stressed on the first syllable: FÚT-bol.

Pronunciation (Latin America):

• fú like foo but shorter
• t like English t
• bol like bowl but with a short o (closer to bawl)

So: FÚT-bol.

Why do we say equipo de fútbol instead of something like equipo futbol?

Spanish very often uses the pattern noun + de + noun to express type or purpose:

• equipo de fútbol = soccer team
• zapatos de fútbol = soccer shoes
• pelota de tenis = tennis ball

The de works like “of” or “for”.

You could use an adjective like futbolístico:

• equipo futbolístico

but that sounds more formal or technical. In everyday Latin American Spanish, equipo de fútbol is by far the most natural.

Could we say Cada jugadora del equipo de fútbol tiene una responsabilidad clara? What’s the difference from En el equipo de fútbol, cada jugadora tiene…?

Yes, that alternative is perfectly correct:

• Cada jugadora del equipo de fútbol tiene una responsabilidad clara.

Here:

• del = de + el (of the)

Subtle differences:

• En el equipo de fútbol, cada jugadora tiene…
  Focus starts on the team as a context: In the soccer team, each player has…

• Cada jugadora del equipo de fútbol tiene…
  Focus starts on the players: Each player of the soccer team has…

Both mean basically the same thing; it’s just a different word order and slightly different emphasis.

Could we say En el equipo de fútbol, hay una responsabilidad clara para cada jugadora instead? What changes?

Yes, that sentence is also grammatically correct:

• En el equipo de fútbol, hay una responsabilidad clara para cada jugadora.

Difference in nuance:

• cada jugadora tiene una responsabilidad clara
  Emphasizes that each player possesses or holds a responsibility.

• hay una responsabilidad clara para cada jugadora
  Emphasizes the existence of clear responsibilities assigned for each player within the team.

Both convey a similar overall idea, but tiene focuses on what each person has, while hay focuses on what exists in the team’s organization.