En este restaurante hay un tipo de sopa muy salada que no me gusta.

Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Spanish grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Spanish now

Questions & Answers about En este restaurante hay un tipo de sopa muy salada que no me gusta.

Why does the sentence use hay instead of es or está?

In Spanish, hay is used to say there is / there are when introducing something that exists or is present in a place, without assuming the listener already knows about it.

  • En este restaurante hay un tipo de sopa…
    In this restaurant there is a kind of soup…

You’d use:

  • ser (es / son) to describe identity:
    • Esta sopa es muy salada. = This soup is very salty.
  • estar (está / están) to describe location or temporary state of a specific thing already known:
    • La sopa está muy salada hoy. = The soup is very salty today.

Here we’re not describing the soup we both know; we’re saying that in this restaurant, such a soup exists. So hay is the right verb.


Why is it en este restaurante and not en este restauranteo or something else?

Restaurante is a masculine noun in Spanish, so it uses the masculine demonstrative este:

  • este restaurante = this restaurant

The form changes with gender and number:

  • este restaurante = this restaurant (masc. sing.)
  • esta cafetería = this café (fem. sing.)
  • estos restaurantes = these restaurants (masc. pl.)
  • estas cafeterías = these cafés (fem. pl.)

There’s no extra ending like -o added after restaurante; restaurante itself is the full noun.


Why is it un tipo de sopa and not just una sopa?

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things:

  • una sopa muy salada
    = a very salty soup
    (a specific soup, just one example)

  • un tipo de sopa muy salada
    = a kind/type of soup that is very salty
    (refers to a variety, a category of soup that they offer)

So un tipo de sopa suggests:

  • it’s a particular kind or variety on the menu (for example, a specific traditional soup)
  • not just one bowl of soup, but that they have this type regularly as part of what they serve

Why is it un tipo de sopa if sopa is feminine? Shouldn’t it be una tipo de sopa?

The article agrees with the noun it directly modifies:

  • tipo is masculine → un tipo
  • sopa is feminine → una sopa

In un tipo de sopa, the “main” noun is tipo (masc.), and de sopa is just describing what kind of “type” it is.

Compare:

  • un tipo de coche = a type of car (tipo is masculine)
  • una clase de sopa = a kind of soup (clase is feminine)

So you match un / una with tipo / clase, not with sopa.


What’s the role of de in un tipo de sopa?

De here is like of in English:

  • un tipo de sopa
    = a type of soup

It forms a noun phrase where:

  • tipo = type / kind
  • de sopa = specifying the category

The same structure appears in:

  • una clase de vino = a kind of wine
  • una especie de queso = a sort of cheese

Why is muy salada placed after sopa? Could it be una muy salada sopa?

In Spanish, adjectives normally go after the noun:

  • una sopa muy salada = a very salty soup

Putting the adjective before the noun (una muy salada sopa) sounds poetic, old-fashioned, or unusual in everyday speech. It’s technically possible in literature for emphasis or style, but not the standard order.

So the normal pattern is:

  • noun + adjective
    • un café caliente = a hot coffee
    • una sopa salada = a salty soup

When you add muy:

  • una sopa muy salada = a very salty soup

What’s the difference between muy salada and demasiado salada?
  • muy salada = very salty

    • Just a strong degree. It could be a neutral or slightly negative comment.
  • demasiado salada = too salty

    • Clearly negative: more salty than is acceptable.

In your sentence:

  • muy salada
    • que no me gusta already shows you don’t like it, but grammatically it’s just “very salty,” not necessarily “too salty.”

Why is it que no me gusta and not que no la me gusta or que no me la gusta?

In me gusta, the grammar is “reversed” compared to English:

  • Spanish: Me gusta la sopa.
    Literal: To me pleases the soup.
    Meaning: I like the soup.

  • la sopa is the subject of the verb gustar.
  • me is an indirect object (to me).

So:

  • La sopa no me gusta. = I don’t like the soup.

In a relative clause:

  • … una sopa muy salada que no me gusta.
    Literally: … a very salty soup that does not please me.

You do not use la here, because que already stands for “the soup”:

  • que no me gusta = that I do not like
  • ✗ que no la me gusta = incorrect
  • ✗ que no me la gusta = incorrect

The object pronoun la is unnecessary and ungrammatical in this position.


Could I say … una sopa muy salada que no me gusta a mí? What does a mí add?

Yes, you can say:

  • … una sopa muy salada que no me gusta a mí.

Adding a mí:

  • emphasizes that I personally don’t like it,
  • often implies contrast, like “I don’t like it (but others might).”

Examples:

  • Esta sopa no me gusta. = I don’t like this soup.
  • Esta sopa no me gusta a mí, pero a él sí.
    = I don’t like this soup, but he does.

Without a mí, your original sentence is perfectly normal and complete.


Why is it no me gusta and not me no gusta?

In Spanish, the normal order is:

  • no + pronoun + verb

So:

  • no me gusta = I don’t like
  • no te gusta = you don’t like
  • no le gusta = he/she doesn’t like

Putting no after me (me no gusta) is incorrect in standard Spanish. The negation no must come before the verb (and before any pronoun that goes with the verb).


Could the sentence start with Hay instead of En este restaurante? Does the meaning change?

You could say:

  • Hay un tipo de sopa muy salada que no me gusta en este restaurante.

Grammatically it’s okay, but the focus shifts slightly:

  • En este restaurante hay…
    Focus: this restaurant as the place, then you mention what it has.

  • Hay un tipo de sopa… en este restaurante.
    Focus: the existence of the soup, then you mention the place.

In everyday speech, starting with En este restaurante feels more natural when you are specifically talking about this restaurant and what it offers.


If I want to say “In this restaurant there are some very salty soups that I don’t like,” how do I make it plural?

You’d make tipo and sopa plural (if you still want to keep tipo), and adjust the verb gustar:

Option 1 (still with tipo):

  • En este restaurante hay unos tipos de sopa muy salados que no me gustan.

But this sounds a bit odd, because tipos de sopa muy salados is slightly clumsy.

More natural is to drop tipo and just pluralize sopa:

Option 2 (more natural):

  • En este restaurante hay sopas muy saladas que no me gustan.
    = In this restaurant there are very salty soups that I don’t like.

Here:

  • hay stays the same (it doesn’t change for plural),
  • sopas is plural,
  • muy saladas agrees with sopas (feminine plural),
  • no me gustan (plural) because sopas is the subject of gustar.

Is restaurante pronounced with four syllables like res-tau-ran-te?

Yes, restaurante has four syllables:

  • res-tau-ran-te

Some notes:

  • The au in tau is one syllable (a diphthong).
  • The stress falls on ran: res-tau-RAN-te.
  • The final -e is fully pronounced in Spanish: te, not silent like English.

So it’s roughly: res-tow-RAN-te.