Breakdown of La legítima protege al heredero forzoso.
Questions & Answers about La legítima protege al heredero forzoso.
In Spanish inheritance law, la legítima is a legal term for the part of an estate that the law reserves for certain close relatives. So here it is not just the ordinary adjective legitimate used on its own; it is a specific noun used in legal language.
In Spain, this is an important concept in succession law, because it limits how freely a person can distribute their estate.
Yes. In this sentence, legítima is being used as a noun, not just as an adjective.
It is common in legal Spanish for an adjective or shortened expression to function as a noun. You can think of la legítima as a shortened legal phrase, something like la porción legítima. Because the noun is feminine, it takes the feminine article la.
So:
- la legítima = a feminine singular legal noun
- not just legitimate as an adjective
Protege is the third-person singular present indicative form of proteger.
It is used because the subject is la legítima, which is singular:
- la legítima = singular subject
- therefore protege = it protects
The present tense is very natural here because Spanish often uses the present tense to state general facts, definitions, or legal principles.