Breakdown of El modelo nuevo no es tan práctico como el viejo.
ser
to be
no
no, not
nuevo
new
viejo
old
tan
as / so
como
as / like (such as, similar to)
el modelo
the model
práctico
practical
Questions & Answers about El modelo nuevo no es tan práctico como el viejo.
How does the "as ... as" structure work in this sentence?
Does the adjective práctico need to match the noun it describes?
Yes! Even though it sits inside the tan ... como structure, práctico is still describing the subject, el modelo. Because modelo is masculine and singular, the adjective must also be masculine and singular. If we were comparing something feminine, like a new camera (la cámara nueva), it would change to tan práctica como.
Where is the word for "one" in el viejo (the old one)?
Spanish doesn't use a word for "one" in these situations. To avoid repeating the noun (saying "the old model" again), you can just use the word for "the" (el) directly in front of the adjective (viejo). El viejo literally means "the old", but in English we naturally translate it as "the old one".
Why is it modelo nuevo instead of nuevo modelo?
As a quick refresher: in Spanish, descriptive adjectives usually go after the noun they describe, which is the opposite of English. So, instead of saying "new model", you say "model new" (modelo nuevo).
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