Breakdown of El primo de la amiga es alto.
ser
to be
de
from / of
la amiga
the female friend
alto
tall / high
el primo
the male cousin
Questions & Answers about El primo de la amiga es alto.
Why is it "El primo de la amiga" instead of using an apostrophe 's' like "La amiga's primo"?
Spanish doesn't use an apostrophe 's' to show possession. Instead, you have to swap the word order and use the word de (of). You literally say "the cousin of the friend" (el primo de la amiga).
Why is the adjective alto (masculine) when la amiga is feminine?
Adjectives in Spanish must match the noun they describe. Here, the person who is tall is the cousin (el primo, which is masculine), not the friend (la amiga). Because the cousin is the one being described, we use the masculine form alto.
Why are there two words for "the" in the Spanish sentence (el and la)?
Since Spanish uses de (of) for possession instead of an apostrophe 's', the sentence literally translates to "The cousin of the friend is tall." You need the masculine el for the cousin and the feminine la for the friend.
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