Breakdown of La prima de mi amiga es muy amable.
ser
to be
amable
kind
mi
my
muy
very
la amiga
the friend
de
of
la prima
the cousin
Questions & Answers about La prima de mi amiga es muy amable.
Why do we say la prima and not el primo here?
In Spanish, la prima refers to a female cousin, while el primo refers to a male cousin. Since we’re talking about a female cousin, we use the feminine form la prima.
Why is there a de between la prima and mi amiga?
In Spanish, de shows possession or relationship. So la prima de mi amiga means my friend’s cousin. It literally translates to the cousin of my friend.
Is there a gender agreement issue with muy amable? Does amable change for masculine or feminine?
The adjective amable does not change for gender in Spanish. It can be amable for both masculine and feminine nouns. The word muy simply intensifies it, meaning very.
Could we have used está instead of es in this sentence?
Generally, ser (shown here as es) is used for permanent or characteristic traits, like being kind. Estar might be used for temporary states or feelings. Since kindness is seen as a usual or defining characteristic, es muy amable sounds correct and natural.
Why is amiga in the singular form instead of the plural amigas?
We’re specifically talking about one friend, so mi amiga. If we had multiple friends, we would say mis amigas. Each of those forms would change the meaning: la prima de mis amigas would be my friends’ cousin in plural.
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