Él lee su octavo libro.

Questions & Answers about Él lee su octavo libro.

Why is it octavo libro and not octav libro like primer libro?
The rule where you drop the final -o before a masculine singular noun only applies to primero (first) and tercero (third), which become primer and tercer. For all other ordinal numbers like octavo (eighth), you keep the -o.
Does octavo have to go before libro?
Yes! Unlike most descriptive adjectives in Spanish which usually come after the noun, ordinal numbers like octavo normally come right before the noun they describe.
If a woman were reading the book, would we say octava libro?
No, it would still be octavo libro. Ordinal numbers change to match the gender of the noun they describe, not the person who owns it. Since libro is a masculine noun, octavo must stay masculine.
Why does Él have an accent mark?
The accent mark tells us that Él is the pronoun meaning "he". Without the accent mark, el is the article meaning "the". Both are pronounced exactly the same, so the accent just helps you tell them apart in writing.
Since su can mean his, her, your, or their, how do we know it means "his" here?
Context! Because the sentence starts with Él (he), we know that su refers to his book in this specific situation.

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