Breakdown of La tía de los niños tiene un perro grande.
de
from / of
el niño
the boy
tener
to have
el perro
the dog
un
a, an (masculine)
los
the (masculine plural)
grande
big
la tía
aunt
Questions & Answers about La tía de los niños tiene un perro grande.
Why does the sentence say La tía de los niños instead of using an apostrophe 's' like in English?
The translation says "The boys' aunt", but doesn't niños mean "children"?
It can mean both! In Spanish, a masculine plural word like los niños can mean a group of boys, or a mixed group of boys and girls (children). Depending on the context, "The children's aunt" would also be a perfectly correct translation.
Since los niños is plural, why do we use tiene (has) instead of the plural form tienen?
The action word (the verb) needs to match the person doing the action. Here, the aunt (la tía) is the one who has the dog, not the boys. Because she is just one person, we use the singular form tiene (she has).
Why is it un perro grande and not un grande perro?
In Spanish, descriptive words (adjectives) usually come right after the thing they describe. So, instead of saying "a big dog", you say "a dog big" (un perro grande).
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