Breakdown of Tenga paciencia con el jurado, abogado.
Questions & Answers about Tenga paciencia con el jurado, abogado.
Why is the verb tenga instead of ten or tiene?
Tenga is the formal command for usted. Because the speaker is addressing a professional, a lawyer (abogado), they use formal speech. The verb tener (to have) has an irregular command form. To make it, you take the yo form (tengo), drop the -o, and add the opposite vowel ending -a to get tenga. How can I tell this is a command and not a regular statement?
The word tenga is the specific form used for formal commands. If it were a regular statement like 'You have patience', the verb would be tiene. Also, the comma before abogado shows the speaker is speaking directly to the lawyer and giving an instruction. Does el jurado mean the whole jury or just one juror?
El jurado usually translates to 'the jury' as a collective group, which is how it is used here. However, in other contexts, it can also refer to a single jury member. Why isn't there an article like una before paciencia?
Just like in English, you do not need an article here. We say 'have patience', not 'have a patience'. When talking about general, uncountable traits like paciencia after the verb tener, Spanish leaves the article out. Learn Tenga paciencia con el jurado, abogado and more in Spanish
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