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Questions & Answers about El espejo refleja la luz.
Why is el espejo masculine?
In Spanish, all nouns have grammatical gender. Nouns that end in -o are typically masculine, so espejo takes the masculine article el (“the”) in its singular form. While there are exceptions, espejo follows the standard pattern of -o nouns being masculine.
Why is la luz feminine?
Some nouns, including those ending in -z, are feminine, and luz is one of them. It takes the definite article la (“the”) in the singular. Unfortunately, there isn’t a strict rule for -z endings—you have to memorize their gender, as with many Spanish nouns.
Why do we include the definite article la before luz instead of leaving it out?
In Spanish, when talking about something specific, general concepts, or abstract phenomena (like light), you usually include the definite article. Saying refleja luz without la sounds incomplete or overly vague. The article clarifies that you mean “the light” in question.
What is the verb refleja and why is it singular?
Refleja is the third-person singular present indicative of the regular -ar verb reflejar, which means “to reflect.” It’s singular because the subject el espejo (“the mirror”) is singular. So it matches in number and person: el espejo refleja.
Could I say it in a reflexive or passive way instead?
Yes. A common reflexive/passive construction is: La luz se refleja en el espejo (“The light is reflected in the mirror”). It shifts focus onto la luz as the grammatical subject. You could also form a true passive voice: La luz es reflejada por el espejo, although that’s less common in everyday speech.
Why is there no preposition like en or por before el espejo in the original?
In El espejo refleja la luz, el espejo is the grammatical subject—the doer of the action—so it stands alone without a preposition. If you flip the sentence into a passive or reflexive structure, you’d need en or por to introduce the agent or location: La luz se refleja en el espejo or La luz es reflejada por el espejo.
Can I invert the word order and say Refleja el espejo la luz?
Standard Spanish follows Subject–Verb–Object (SVO), so El espejo refleja la luz is the normal order. Inversion like Refleja el espejo la luz can occur in poetry or for dramatic emphasis, but it sounds marked or formal in everyday language.
How do I replace la luz with a pronoun?
Since luz is feminine singular, you use the direct object pronoun la. The pronoun goes before the conjugated verb: El espejo la refleja (“The mirror reflects it [the light]”). If you use a compound tense or infinitive, placement rules can vary.