Learn Spanish (Latin America): El niño es de México, pero la niña es de Colombia. - The boy is from Mexico, but the girl is from Colombia.

El niño es de México, pero la niña es de Colombia.

The boy is from Mexico, but the girl is from Colombia.

Breakdown of El niño es de México, pero la niña es de Colombia.

Questions & Answers about El niño es de México, pero la niña es de Colombia.

Why do we say el niño but la niña?

In Spanish, nouns have a gender. Niño (boy) ends in -o and is masculine, so it uses the masculine word for "the", which is el. Niña (girl) ends in -a and is feminine, so it uses the feminine word for "the": la.

Why use es here instead of está?

To say where someone is from (their origin), Spanish always uses the verb ser. Es is the form of ser for "he", "she", or "it". You wouldn't use está here, because origin is considered a permanent characteristic of a person.

What does the word de mean in this sentence?

De generally means "from" or "of". When combined with es, the phrase es de translates exactly to "is from", making it very easy to match with English.

Why does México have an accent mark?

The accent mark on the é tells you to put the strongest spoken stress on that syllable (MEH-hee-ko). Also, note that the x in México makes a soft "h" sound in Spanish, not a "ks" sound like it does in English.