Learn Spanish (Latin America): El niño necesita una bicicleta.

El niño necesita una bicicleta.

The boy needs a bicycle.

Breakdown of El niño necesita una bicicleta.

Questions & Answers about El niño necesita una bicicleta.

Why does this sentence use una instead of un?

Una is the feminine word for "a" or "an", while un is the masculine word. Because the word for bicycle (bicicleta) is feminine, we have to use una to match it.

How can I tell that bicicleta is feminine so I know to use una?

The biggest clue is that bicicleta ends in the letter -a. In Spanish, the vast majority of nouns ending in -a are feminine, so they will use feminine articles like la (the) or una (a/an).

Why is the verb necesita and not necesito?

The verb ending has to match the person doing the action. Since el niño (the boy) is a "he", we use the -a ending for this verb: necesita (he needs). If you wanted to say "I need", you would change the ending to an -o and say necesito.

How is the ñ in niño pronounced?

The ñ is its own letter in the Spanish alphabet. The squiggly line on top (a tilde) tells you to pronounce it like the "ny" sound in the English word "canyon" or "onion". So, niño sounds a bit like "neen-yo".