Breakdown of En clase de política, estudiamos la igualdad, la libertad y cómo funciona el gobierno.
Questions & Answers about En clase de política, estudiamos la igualdad, la libertad y cómo funciona el gobierno.
In Spanish, when you talk about being “in class” in a general sense, it’s very common to drop the article:
- En clase = in class (general, as an activity / context)
- En la clase = in the class (more specific, a particular class session or group)
So:
- En clase de política ≈ “In politics class” (as a subject / course in general)
- En la clase de política ≈ “In the politics class (that we have now / that specific one)”
Both are correct; without the article sounds more general and is very common in Spain when speaking about school subjects.
Clase de política is quite flexible and depends on context:
- It literally means “politics class.”
- In a school context, it could be:
- a civics class (about how government works and citizens’ rights),
- a political science class,
- or any course where the subject is politics.
If you want to sound more like a university subject, in Spain people might also say:
- Ciencia política = political science (as an academic discipline)
- Ciencias políticas = political sciences (also used as the name of the degree)
With clase, Spanish almost always uses de to indicate the subject:
- clase de matemáticas – math class
- clase de historia – history class
- clase de política – politics class
De here means “of,” showing what the class is about.
Sobre (“about”) is more for topics of texts, talks, etc.:
- una charla sobre política – a talk about politics
- un libro sobre política – a book about politics
So clase de política is the natural pattern.
In Spanish, abstract nouns are very often used with the definite article:
- la igualdad – (the) equality
- la libertad – (the) freedom
- la justicia – (the) justice
The article can give them a more concrete, almost “thing-like” feel: the concept of equality, the value of freedom, etc.
In many English translations, we drop “the” and just say equality, freedom, but in Spanish:
- Luchamos por la igualdad y la libertad.
- Estudiamos la igualdad, la libertad…
Using the article here is completely normal and sounds natural.
You can sometimes drop the second article, but:
- la igualdad y la libertad is the most natural, clear, and standard.
- la igualdad y libertad is possible in some more literary or condensed styles, but sounds less typical in everyday speech.
So for normal, clear Spanish, keep:
- la igualdad, la libertad, la justicia
repeating la with each noun in a list of separate abstract ideas.
The accent marks cómo as an interrogative / exclamative word, even when it’s inside another sentence:
- ¿Cómo funciona el gobierno? – How does the government work?
- Estudiamos cómo funciona el gobierno. – We study how the government works.
Compare:
- como (no accent) = as, like, since
- Trabajo como profesor. – I work as a teacher.
- Como no vino, me fui. – Since he didn’t come, I left.
Whenever cómo means “how?” (even in an embedded clause), it takes the accent.
In Spanish, it’s very common — especially in questions and indirect questions — for the verb to come before the subject:
- ¿Cómo funciona el gobierno?
- No entiendo cómo funciona el gobierno.
You can say cómo el gobierno funciona, but:
- it sounds marked or stylistic,
- sometimes it can sound a bit unnatural or too “poetic” in everyday speech.
So the neutral, natural order is:
- cómo + verb + subject → cómo funciona el gobierno
Spanish usually needs an article where English can go without one:
- Estudiamos el gobierno. – We study (the) government.
- El gobierno tiene poder. – Government has power.
In Spanish, saying just gobierno without an article would normally be:
- part of a set phrase, or
- functioning like a verb noun (e.g. de gobierno, of governing).
So:
- el gobierno is the normal way to talk about the institution “the government” in general.
- English often drops “the” in abstract/general use, but Spanish doesn’t.
Estudiamos is the present indicative of estudiar:
- It can mean we study (habitual/general).
- It can also mean we are studying (right now / these days).
Spanish present covers both English present simple and present continuous. You understand which from context.
Examples:
- En clase de política, estudiamos la igualdad…
→ probably “In politics class, we study equality…” (what the course covers in general).
If you really need to stress right now, you can use:
- Estamos estudiando la igualdad… – We are (currently) studying equality…
Punctuation follows normal Spanish rules:
Comma after the introductory phrase
- En clase de política, estudiamos…
The first part is an introductory circumstantial phrase (setting the context: in politics class), so you put a comma after it.
- En clase de política, estudiamos…
No comma before y in a simple list
Spanish generally does not use a comma before y when listing items:- la igualdad, la libertad y cómo funciona el gobierno
- equality, freedom, and how the government works
There is usually no “Oxford comma” in Spanish.
Yes, igualdad and libertad are feminine:
- la igualdad
- la libertad
A helpful pattern: many nouns ending in -dad are feminine:
- la ciudad – city
- la universidad – university
- la amistad – friendship
- la verdad – truth
So la igualdad and la libertad follow this pattern.
Yes:
- el gobierno (lowercase) → government in general, as an institution or concept.
- el Gobierno (uppercase) → a specific government, usually the current administration of a country or region.
In your sentence:
- cómo funciona el gobierno = how government works in general.
If a Spanish news article says:
- El Gobierno ha aprobado una nueva ley.
That usually means the current national government (e.g., the Spanish central government).