Somos veinte personas en la familia.

Questions & Answers about Somos veinte personas en la familia.

Why doesn't veinte change to veintas to match the feminine word personas?
Most numbers in Spanish don't change their ending to match the gender of the noun they describe. Only the number one (uno becoming un or una) and the hundreds (like doscientos or doscientas) change for gender. The number veinte stays exactly the same whether you are counting masculine or feminine things.
In English we usually say "there are twenty of us". Why does Spanish use somos here?
When you want to express the total number of people in a group that you belong to, Spanish uses somos (we are). You are literally saying "we are twenty people". If you were not part of the group, you would say son veinte personas (they are twenty people) or hay veinte personas (there are twenty people).
Could I use the word gente instead of personas to mean people here?
No, because gente is a singular word in Spanish used for people in a general, uncountable sense. When you are counting a specific number of individuals, like twenty, you must use the plural word personas.
Why does the sentence say en la familia (in the family) instead of en mi familia (in my family)?
Both are perfectly correct. Spanish speakers often use la (the) instead of mi (my) when the context makes it completely obvious whose family is being talked about. You can absolutely say en mi familia if you prefer.

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