Breakdown of Mi mejor amiga no es nada competitiva; prefiere que todos disfrutemos del juego.
Questions & Answers about Mi mejor amiga no es nada competitiva; prefiere que todos disfrutemos del juego.
In Spanish, most adjectives normally go after the noun, but some very common ones (like mejor, peor, primer, último, etc.) usually go before the noun, especially when they give a value judgment or a very fixed description.
- mi mejor amiga = my best (female) friend ✅
- mi amiga mejor is grammatically possible, but it sounds odd here and would usually appear in a comparative structure, e.g. Es una amiga mejor que tú (“She is a better friend than you”).
- mejor mi amiga is not a normal noun phrase order in Spanish.
So mi mejor amiga is the standard, natural way to say my best friend (female).
Spanish nouns often show grammatical gender:
- amigo = (male) friend or a mixed group of friends
- amiga = female friend
Because the sentence is talking about a best friend who is female, you must use the feminine form:
- Mi mejor amiga = my best (female) friend
- Mi mejor amigo = my best (male) friend
English doesn’t mark gender on friend, but Spanish does, so the ending changes.
Literally:
- no es nada competitiva = “she is nothing competitive”
But idiomatically it means:
- She is not at all competitive.
Here nada is used as an intensifier of the negation, not with its basic meaning “nothing”:
- no es competitiva = she isn’t competitive (a simple, neutral negation)
- no es nada competitiva = she is not at all / in no way competitive (stronger, more emphatic)
So nada in this construction reinforces the idea of zero competitiveness.
No. Spanish handles multiple negatives differently from formal English.
In Spanish, using more than one negative word in the same clause is normal and it does not cancel the negation. Instead, it reinforces it:
- No es competitiva. = She isn’t competitive.
- No es nada competitiva. = She isn’t at all competitive.
- No es nada, pero nada competitiva. = She is absolutely not competitive (very emphatic, colloquial).
Other common patterns:
- No veo nada. = I don’t see anything.
- No quiero nunca competir. = I never want to compete.
So no es nada competitiva is still clearly negative; it does not mean “she is somewhat competitive.”
Adjectives in Spanish agree with the noun in gender and number.
- Noun: amiga → feminine singular
- Adjective: competitiva → feminine singular to match amiga
Compare:
- Mi mejor amigo no es nada competitivo. (masculine)
- Mis mejores amigas no son nada competitivas. (feminine plural)
- Mis mejores amigos no son nada competitivos. (masculine/mixed plural)
So competitiva must end in -a here because it is describing amiga, which is feminine.
The sentence has two complete clauses:
- Mi mejor amiga no es nada competitiva
- prefiere que todos disfrutemos del juego
Each one has its own verb and could be a standalone sentence. The semicolon:
- Links two closely related independent clauses
- Is stylistically a bit more formal than just using a comma
- Avoids what in strict English grammar would be a “comma splice”
In Spanish, you could also write:
- Mi mejor amiga no es nada competitiva. Prefiere que todos disfrutemos del juego. ✅
- Mi mejor amiga no es nada competitiva y prefiere que todos disfrutemos del juego. ✅
A comma without y or another linker is less standard in careful writing, though it appears a lot in everyday texts. The semicolon is a good choice here to show that the ideas are separate but very closely connected.
The verb preferir (to prefer), when followed by que + clause, almost always triggers the subjunctive in that clause, because it expresses:
- a wish
- a preference
- something desired or hypothetical, not a simple, objective fact
Pattern:
- (Ella) prefiere que + [subjunctive]
So:
- Prefiere que todos disfrutemos del juego.
= She prefers that we all enjoy the game.
If you said:
- Prefiere que todos disfrutamos del juego. ❌
that would be incorrect in standard Spanish; with que, you need the subjunctive after a verb of preference, desire, emotion, etc.
The verb form disfrutemos is 1st person plural (we), while disfruten is 3rd person plural (they).
- que todos disfrutemos usually implies that the speaker is included in todos → “that we all enjoy”
- que todos disfruten usually implies that the speaker is not included, just “that they all enjoy”
In the sentence:
- Prefiere que todos disfrutemos del juego.
suggests: She prefers that we all (including me, her, maybe others) enjoy the game.
If you wanted to exclude the speaker:
- Prefiere que todos disfruten del juego.
= She prefers that they all enjoy the game (not necessarily including the speaker).
So the choice of disfrutemos vs disfruten changes who is included in todos.
Yes, you can change the order:
- Prefiere que todos disfrutemos del juego. ✅
- Prefiere que disfrutemos todos del juego. ✅
Both are natural in Spain. The difference in everyday use is minimal:
- que todos disfrutemos slightly emphasizes todos as a group right away.
- que disfrutemos todos places the focus first on disfrutemos (the action) and then adds todos.
In most contexts, they are interchangeable, and native speakers use both patterns freely.
In Spanish, the preposition de + the masculine singular article el always contract to del:
- de + el = del
So:
- de el juego ❌
- del juego ✅
Other examples:
- Voy al parque. = a + el parque → al
- Vengo del médico. = de + el médico → del
In Spain, it’s very common (and often considered more “careful” or standard) to use disfrutar de + noun:
- disfrutar de la vida
- disfrutar del silencio
- disfrutar del juego
So:
- Prefiere que todos disfrutemos del juego. ✅ (very natural in Spain)
You will also hear disfrutar + direct object:
- disfrutar el juego
- disfrutar la película
This is more frequent in some Latin American varieties and in more informal speech, but in Spain disfrutar de is extremely common and perfectly correct. In this particular sentence, disfrutemos del juego sounds very natural for Peninsular (Spain) Spanish.