Breakdown of Desde el tejado de la granja vemos un molino antiguo junto a los nuevos molinos de viento.
Questions & Answers about Desde el tejado de la granja vemos un molino antiguo junto a los nuevos molinos de viento.
Desde means from / starting from (a place or point in space or time) and emphasizes the point of origin of the view.
- Desde el tejado de la granja vemos… = From the roof of the farm we see…
- Using just de here (De el tejado…) would sound wrong; de alone doesn’t naturally express this origin-of-view meaning.
So, when you talk about what you can see from somewhere, Spanish normally uses desde:
- Desde la ventana veo el jardín.
- Desde aquí no vemos nada.
Both relate to roof/ceiling, but they’re used differently:
- Tejado = the outer roof of a building (the part you see from outside, with tiles, etc.).
- Desde el tejado de la granja… = You’re literally on the roof structure outside.
- Techo = the ceiling inside a room, or the inner side of the roof.
- El techo de la cocina está sucio. = The kitchen ceiling is dirty.
In Spain, being on top of a building on the outside, you’d normally say tejado, not techo.
Spanish uses the definite article (el / la) when it’s clear we are talking about a specific, unique thing in that context:
- A farm normally has one main roof, so el tejado de la granja naturally means the (farm’s) roof – the only one that matters here.
Compare:
- El tejado de la granja = the roof of the (already known) farm.
- Un tejado de una granja = some roof belonging to some farm (unknown, unspecific) – this sounds odd in context.
In Spanish:
- Ver = to see (something that comes into your field of vision, more passive).
- Mirar = to look at / to watch (an intentional action).
In English you say we see a windmill from the roof, not we look at a windmill from the roof, so ver is the natural verb.
- Desde el tejado vemos un molino… = From the roof we see a mill…
- If you said miramos un molino, it would mean you are actively looking at / staring at it.
Spanish often drops subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, nosotros, etc.) because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.
- Vemos clearly indicates we (nosotros), so nosotros is optional:
- (Nosotros) vemos un molino antiguo…
You normally add nosotros only for emphasis or contrast:
- Nosotros vemos un molino antiguo, pero ellos no ven nada.
Spanish adjectives can go before or after the noun, but the position often changes the nuance:
un molino antiguo
- Adjective after the noun is the neutral, descriptive position:
- molino antiguo = a mill that is old (literal age).
- Adjective after the noun is the neutral, descriptive position:
los nuevos molinos de viento
- Adjective before the noun often adds a subjective or contrastive nuance, or groups the noun as a unit:
- nuevos molinos here feels like a set or type: the new (modern) windmills, in contrast to the old one.
- Adjective before the noun often adds a subjective or contrastive nuance, or groups the noun as a unit:
You could also say:
- un antiguo molino – often heard as a former/old-style mill or slightly more literary.
- molinos nuevos de viento – grammatically correct but less natural; the default here is nuevos molinos.
The articles show how specific and countable the things are:
- un molino antiguo
- un = one / a (not previously identified; just one old mill in the scene).
- los nuevos molinos de viento
- los = the (a specific, identifiable group).
- Plural molinos suggests there are several modern windmills that are known in that area, like a wind farm.
So the image is: one particular old mill next to the modern windmills everyone recognizes there.
- molino = mill in general (a machine/building that grinds grain, etc.).
- molino de viento = windmill / wind turbine, literally mill of wind.
In many contexts in Spain today:
- molino alone often evokes the traditional stone/wood mill, especially with antiguo.
- molinos de viento can refer either to traditional windmills or, in everyday speech, to modern wind turbines (though the more technical word is aerogeneradores).
In this sentence:
- junto a ≈ right next to / beside (very close, often almost touching or in a direct line).
- al lado de ≈ beside / next to as well; very similar in everyday use.
- cerca de = near (not necessarily right next to, just not far).
So:
- …vemos un molino antiguo junto a los nuevos molinos de viento.
= we see it right next to / beside the new windmills.
In Spanish, many noun–noun combinations follow the pattern [thing] de [material/force/purpose], and the second noun is often singular:
- molinos de viento (not vientos) = mills driven by wind in general.
- Compare:
- gafas de sol (sunglasses; literally glasses of sun).
- zapatos de cuero (leather shoes).
Using de viento says these are wind-powered mills, not mills of multiple individual winds.
Adjectives and articles must match the noun in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural):
molino is masculine singular:
- un (masc. sg.)
- antiguo (masc. sg.)
- → un molino antiguo
molinos is masculine plural:
- los (masc. pl.)
- nuevos (masc. pl.)
- → los nuevos molinos de viento
Viento does not affect agreement here; it’s part of the fixed phrase molinos de viento and stays singular.
Yes, estamos viendo is grammatically correct, but the nuance changes:
- vemos (present simple)
- Neutral, factual: we see / we can see.
- Often used to describe a scene, a picture, or a general situation.
- estamos viendo (present progressive)
- More in-progress / right now, emphasizing the ongoing action of looking or seeing at this moment.
In descriptive sentences that paint a static scene (like in a story or description of a landscape), Spanish prefers vemos.
Estamos viendo would sound more like you’re describing what you’re doing at this exact moment, as an activity.