Breakdown of La farmacia está justo enfrente del colegio de mi hija.
Questions & Answers about La farmacia está justo enfrente del colegio de mi hija.
Why is it está and not es?
Because this sentence talks about location, and Spanish normally uses estar for where something is.
- La farmacia está... = the pharmacy is located...
- ser is usually for identity, description, origin, etc.
So:
- La farmacia está enfrente... = correct for location
- La farmacia es enfrente... = not natural/correct here
What does justo mean here?
What does enfrente de mean, and why is there a de?
Enfrente de means opposite or across from.
When it is followed by a noun, it normally uses de:
If no noun follows, you can often say simply:
- La farmacia está enfrente. = The pharmacy is opposite / across the street.
So in this sentence, de is needed because enfrente is followed by el colegio de mi hija.
Why is del used instead of de el?
Because de + el contracts to del in Spanish.
So:
- de + el colegio → del colegio
This is mandatory in normal Spanish.
A useful comparison:
- del = de + el
- al = a + el
But there is no contraction with la:
- de la farmacia = correct
- not dela
Why is it el colegio de mi hija instead of something like mi hija's school?
Why is there el before colegio and la before farmacia?
Spanish uses definite articles very often, especially when talking about specific places that are known in context.
Here:
- La farmacia = the pharmacy
- el colegio de mi hija = my daughter’s school / the school of my daughter
Even where English sometimes uses no article or a possessive more directly, Spanish often prefers the article.
Does colegio mean college here?
No. In Spain, colegio usually means school, especially a primary school, though in everyday speech it can refer more generally to a child’s school.
For an English speaker, this is a false friend:
- colegio ≠ college
- college is more often universidad or sometimes another institution depending on context
So in this sentence, colegio should be understood as school, not college.
Could I also say frente a instead of enfrente de?
What is the difference between enfrente de and delante de?
This is a very common confusion.
- enfrente de = opposite / across from
- delante de = in front of
So:
- La farmacia está enfrente del colegio = The pharmacy is across from the school.
- La farmacia está delante del colegio = The pharmacy is in front of the school.
These are not the same image. Enfrente suggests two things facing each other, usually on opposite sides of a street or space. Delante suggests one thing is positioned in front of another.
Why is it mi hija and not hija mía or mía hija?
Because mi is the normal possessive adjective used before the noun:
- mi hija = my daughter
Mía is a different form, usually used:
- after the noun for emphasis: una hija mía
- or on its own: Es mía.
So:
- mi hija = correct here
- mía hija = not correct
- hija mía is possible in other contexts, but it has a different tone and is not the neutral form used here
Is the word order fixed? Could I move justo?
The most natural order here is:
You can sometimes move parts around for emphasis, but not every change sounds natural. For example:
- La farmacia está enfrente del colegio de mi hija. = fine
- Justo enfrente del colegio de mi hija está la farmacia. = possible, more literary or emphatic
- La farmacia está enfrente justo del colegio... = much less natural
So for everyday Spanish, keep justo directly before enfrente.
How do I pronounce hija?
A few useful pronunciation points:
- h is silent in Spanish: hija starts with the vowel sound
- j is pronounced like a strong breathy sound, similar to the ch in Scottish loch or the h in some pronunciations of José
- gi here sounds roughly like hee
- So hija sounds approximately like EE-ha with the stress on the first syllable
Also:
- farmacia = far-MA-cia
- colegio = co-LE-gio
- enfrente = en-FREN-te
Can I leave out justo and still be correct?
Can enfrente be used on its own?
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