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El carro de mi hijo es azul, pero el de mi esposo es negro.

El carro de mi hijo es azul, pero el de mi esposo es negro.
My son's car is blue, but my husband's is black.
From Lesson 139:Avoiding repetition (el de, la de, los de, las de)·Spanish (Latin America)

Breakdown of El carro de mi hijo es azul, pero el de mi esposo es negro.

ser
to be
de
from / of
pero
but
el carro
the car
negro
black
azul
blue
el hijo
son
el esposo
husband
mi
my

Questions & Answers about El carro de mi hijo es azul, pero el de mi esposo es negro.

Why do we say el de instead of just saying de or repeating el carro?
el de acts like a shortcut. Instead of repeating the noun and saying el carro de mi esposo (my husband's car), we drop the word carro and just say el de (the one of). We use el because carro is a masculine, singular noun.
Why does the sentence use El carro de mi hijo instead of something with an apostrophe like "Mi hijo's carro"?
Spanish does not use an apostrophe "s" to show ownership. To say "my son's car", you always have to rephrase it as "the car of my son" which is exactly what El carro de mi hijo means.
If we were talking about bicycles (bicicletas) instead of cars, how would the shortcut change?
Because bicicleta is a feminine noun, you would use la instead of el. The second half of the sentence would become pero la de mi esposo es negra. Notice that the adjective negra also changes to feminine to match the hidden bicycle!
Why does the adjective negro match the car when it is sitting right next to the word esposo (husband)?
Even though esposo is the closest noun, the color is describing the hidden car. Because carro is masculine and singular, the adjective negro stays masculine and singular to match the vehicle, not the person who owns it.

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