La chica de la gasolinera miró el neumático y dijo que podíamos seguir sin problema.

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Breakdown of La chica de la gasolinera miró el neumático y dijo que podíamos seguir sin problema.

• y: and
• de: of
• que: that

Questions & Answers about La chica de la gasolinera miró el neumático y dijo que podíamos seguir sin problema.

Why is it la chica and not just chica?

In Spanish, articles are used more often than in English. La chica means the girl / the young woman.

Saying just chica without an article would usually sound incomplete in this kind of sentence. Spanish normally wants a determiner here: la chica, una chica, esa chica, etc.

What does de la gasolinera mean here exactly?

Literally, de la gasolinera means of/from the petrol station, but in natural English here it usually means something like:

• the girl at the petrol station
• the girl from the petrol station

It identifies which girl we are talking about. In Spanish, de is often used this way to describe where someone is associated with.

Why is it gasolinera and not estación de servicio?

Both are possible, but they are not always used in exactly the same way.

• gasolinera = petrol station / gas station
• estación de servicio = service station, a slightly broader or sometimes more formal term

In everyday speech in Spain, gasolinera is very common and natural.

Why is it miró and not miraba?