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Questions & Answers about El rey vive en el bosque.
Why are there two instances of el in El rey vive en el bosque?
They’re the same word: the masculine singular definite article el (the). Spanish normally requires a definite article before most nouns, so you get el before rey (king) and again before bosque (forest).
Could you use an indefinite article and say El rey vive en un bosque instead?
Yes—but the meaning changes.
- el bosque = “the forest” (a specific forest or forests in general)
- un bosque = “a forest” (any, non-specified forest)
What person and tense is vive?
vive is the third-person singular present indicative of the verb vivir (“to live”). It literally means “he/she/it lives” (or polite “you live”).
Why is vivir used instead of estar to talk about location?
- vivir en = “to live in” (indicates residence or permanent/semi-permanent location)
- estar en = “to be in” (indicates a temporary location or state)
So El rey vive en el bosque tells us the king’s home is the forest, not just that he’s there right now.
Why isn’t en el contracted to something like enl?
Spanish only contracts two preposition + article combinations:
- a + el → al
- de + el → del
Other prepositions (like en or con) never contract with el.
How do you pronounce bosque, and why is there a “u” after the “q”?
- Pronunciation: [ˈbos.ke] (“BOS-keh”)
- Orthography: Spanish uses que (q + u + e) to represent the /k/ sound before e or i. The u is silent here; it simply tells you that q has a /k/ value.
Why doesn’t bosque carry an accent mark?
bosque is a two-syllable (bisyllabic) word ending in a vowel, with stress on the penultimate syllable (“BOS-que”). According to Spanish accent rules, llana (grave) words ending in a vowel don’t take a written accent.
Can you omit El rey and just say Vive en el bosque?
Yes. Spanish is a pro-drop language, so you can drop the subject if context makes it clear who you’re talking about. Vive en el bosque still means “He/she lives in the forest,” but without context it could be ambiguous.
What is the gender of bosque, and how do you know it’s masculine?
bosque is masculine, so you say el bosque. While some noun endings hint at gender (-o often masculine, ‑a often feminine), many words ending in e can be either. In these cases, you must learn the gender along with the noun.