La afinación mejoró al afinar la guitarra.

to the

Breakdown of La afinación mejoró al afinar la guitarra.

• mejorar: to improve
• la guitarra: the guitar
• la afinación: pitch accuracy

Questions & Answers about La afinación mejoró al afinar la guitarra.

What is the difference between afinación and afinar?

They come from the same root, but they are different parts of speech:

• la afinación = a noun: the tuning / the pitch adjustment
• afinar = a verb: to tune

So in the sentence:

• La afinación mejoró = The tuning improved
• al afinar la guitarra = when/by tuning the guitar

A useful pattern to notice is that Spanish often has a noun and a verb built from the same root:

• afinación → the result/process as a thing
• afinar → the action

Why does the sentence use la before afinación and also before guitarra?

Because both are specific nouns here.

• La afinación = the tuning
• la guitarra = the guitar

Spanish uses definite articles more often than English does. In English, you might sometimes say just tuning improved, but Spanish normally prefers la afinación.

Also, guitarra is a feminine noun, so it takes la:

• la guitarra
• la afinación

Why is it mejoró?