Breakdown of La albañil mira el azulejo roto.
mirar
to look at
roto
broken
la albañil
the builder
el azulejo
the tile
Questions & Answers about La albañil mira el azulejo roto.
Why is it la albañil and not la albañila?
Because albañil is a common-gender noun: the noun itself stays the same, and the article shows whether the person is male or female.
- el albañil = a male bricklayer / builder
- la albañil = a female bricklayer / builder
So in this sentence, la tells you the worker is female. Spanish does this with many job nouns.
Why are la and el used here?
They are the definite articles, meaning the.
- la albañil = the female bricklayer
- el azulejo = the tile
Spanish uses articles more often than English does. Here they sound natural because we are talking about a specific worker and a specific tile.
Also, with professions, Spanish often uses an article when the profession is the subject of the sentence:
- La albañil mira...
But after ser, Spanish often leaves the article out:
- Es albañil. = She is a bricklayer.
Why is it mira and not ve?