Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): En mi barrio, los jóvenes ayudan a las personas mayores, y eso me parece maravilloso. - In my neighborhood, young people help older people, and that seems wonderful to me.

En mi barrio, los jóvenes ayudan a las personas mayores, y eso me parece maravilloso.

In my neighborhood, young people help older people, and that seems wonderful to me.

Breakdown of En mi barrio, los jóvenes ayudan a las personas mayores, y eso me parece maravilloso.

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Questions & Answers about En mi barrio, los jóvenes ayudan a las personas mayores, y eso me parece maravilloso.

Why is it “En mi barrio” and not something like “De mi barrio” for “in my neighborhood”?

In Spanish, the normal preposition for physical location is en (= in / on / at), not de.

En mi barrio = in my neighborhood (location)
De mi barrio would mean of/from my neighborhood, usually describing origin or belonging, e.g. las tiendas de mi barrio (the shops from my neighborhood).

So to say where something happens, you use en.

Could I say “En mi vecindario” instead of “En mi barrio”? Is there a difference in Spain?

You could say en mi vecindario, and it would be understood, but in Spain:

barrio is the everyday, common word for a part of a town/city (neighborhood).
vecindario exists, but it’s less common in casual speech and can sound a bit more formal or abstract (the neighborhood / the people living around you).

For natural, colloquial Peninsular Spanish, en mi barrio is the most typical.

Why do we say “los jóvenes” and not just “jóvenes”?

Spanish often uses the definite article (el, la, los, las) to talk about a group in a general way:

Los jóvenes = young people (in general)
Los españoles = Spaniards (in general)
Las mujeres = women (in general)

So los jóvenes doesn’t mean “the specific young people” here; it’s “young people as a group” in that neighborhood. Dropping the article (jóvenes ayudan…) would sound incomplete or ungrammatical.

Is “jóvenes” an adjective or a noun here?

Here jóvenes functions as a noun: young people.

As an adjective: los chicos jóvenes = the young boys
As a noun: los jóvenes = the young people / youth

Spanish often turns adjectives into nouns by adding the article:

los ricos = rich people
los pobres = poor people
los mayores = older people

So in los jóvenes, the noun “people” is implied.

Why is there an “a” in “ayudan a las personas mayores”? In English we just say “help old people” without “to”.

In Spanish, when the direct object is a person (or people), you usually add the “personal a”:

Ayudan a las personas mayores = They help (to) the elderly people
Veo a María = I see María
Respetamos a nuestros padres = We respect our parents

It doesn’t translate as a separate word in English; it’s just a grammar requirement:

Verb + a
- people
With ayudar, when the object is a person, you normally use a:
- Ayudo a mi hermano. = I help my brother.

So ayudan a las personas mayores is correct and natural.

Could I say “ayudan las personas mayores” without the “a”?

No, not in this meaning.

Ayudan las personas mayores (without a) is either wrong or could be (in a very marked interpretation) “the elderly people help (someone/something)” with las personas mayores as the subject of the sentence.
To keep las personas mayores clearly as the object (those who receive help), you need the personal a:
- Los jóvenes ayudan a las personas mayores. = Young people help the elderly.

So you must keep the a.

What’s the nuance of “personas mayores”? Why not “ancianos” or “viejos”?

In Spain:

personas mayores and gente mayor are the most neutral and respectful ways to say elderly people / older people.
ancianos is still fairly neutral, but can sound a bit more formal or old-fashioned, sometimes used in institutional contexts (e.g. residencia de ancianos).
viejos literally means old people, but used about people it is often rude or disrespectful, unless in a very affectionate, joking context or used about things (un coche viejo = an old car).

So las personas mayores is the polite, everyday way to refer to elderly people.

Why is it “las personas mayores” and not “las mayores personas”? Does the adjective always go after the noun?

In Spanish, the default position for descriptive adjectives is after the noun:

personas mayores = older people
casas grandes = big houses
libros interesantes = interesting books

Putting the adjective before the noun (las mayores personas) usually changes the nuance or is unnatural. Las mayores personas would sound odd and doesn’t mean “the elderly people”; it would sound like “the greatest people” (and even that is not very idiomatic).

So for “older / elderly people,” you say personas mayores.

In “y eso me parece maravilloso”, what does “eso” refer to exactly?

Eso is a neutral demonstrative pronoun meaning that (thing), and here it refers back to the whole idea just mentioned:

“In my neighborhood, young people help elderly people, and that seems wonderful to me.”

So eso = “the fact that young people help elderly people”. It points to the whole preceding situation, not to a specific noun.

How does “me parece” work grammatically? Why not “parece me”?

Parecer here works like gustar:

Literal structure: Eso (subject) + me (indirect object) + parece (verb)
Literal meaning: “That seems to me wonderful.”

Rules:

The indirect object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les) usually goes before the conjugated verb:
- me parece
- te parece
- le parece

So me parece is correct; parece me is wrong in standard Spanish.

Word order examples:

Eso me parece maravilloso.
A mí me parece maravilloso. (emphasis on “to me”)

Could I also say “y me parece maravilloso” without “eso”?

Yes, you can say:

En mi barrio, los jóvenes ayudan a las personas mayores, y me parece maravilloso.

It’s common in conversation to drop eso when the reference is obvious from context.

However, including eso:

…y eso me parece maravilloso.

feels slightly more explicit and a bit more natural in a stand-alone sentence, because it clearly points back to the previous idea. Both are correct.

What’s the difference between “me parece maravilloso” and “creo que es maravilloso”?

Both express a positive opinion, but with different nuances:

Me parece maravilloso.
- Literally: “It seems wonderful to me.”
- Slightly softer, more about your impression or feeling.
- Very common, natural, and idiomatic.
Creo que es maravilloso.
- Literally: “I believe it is wonderful.”
- Slightly more rational / opinion-statement sounding.

In many everyday contexts, they’re interchangeable, but me parece maravilloso sounds particularly natural and spontaneous.

Does “maravilloso” have to agree in gender and number? What if eso referred to something feminine or plural?

Yes, maravilloso is an adjective and must agree with the thing it describes:

Ese gesto me parece maravilloso. (gesto is masculine singular → maravilloso)
Esa idea me parece maravillosa. (idea is feminine singular → maravillosa)
Esos gestos me parecen maravillosos. (masc. plural)
Esas ideas me parecen maravillosas. (fem. plural)

With eso, which is grammatically neuter, speakers typically use the masculine singular form, so:

Eso me parece maravilloso.

is the standard pattern.

Why is the verb “ayudan” in the simple present? In English we often say “are helping”.

Spanish presente de indicativo covers both:

habitual actions: they help (regularly)
actions happening “around now”: they are helping

So:

Los jóvenes ayudan a las personas mayores.
can mean:
- “Young people help elderly people (as a regular thing / in general).”
- or in context, “Young people are helping elderly people (these days).”

Spanish only uses the progressive (están ayudando) when you really want to emphasize “right now, at this very moment.” For a general statement like in your sentence, the simple present ayudan is perfect.

Would anything in this sentence change in Latin American Spanish, or is it the same?

The sentence is perfectly understandable everywhere, but considering Spanish from Spain:

En mi barrio: widely used in both Spain and Latin America. In some Latin American regions, barrio can also mean a poorer area, but the general meaning “neighborhood” is common.
los jóvenes ayudan a las personas mayores: completely standard everywhere.
eso me parece maravilloso: also fully standard.

So the sentence works fine across the Spanish-speaking world; it doesn’t rely on a specifically Peninsular-only word or structure.