Questions & Answers about Mi mamá habla español.
Would I ever use mis instead of mi here?
You use mi because mamá is a singular noun. Possessive adjectives in Spanish have to match the number of the things being owned. If you were talking about more than one person, you would use the plural mis, as in mis papás (my parents). Does mi change depending on my gender, or my mom's gender?
Neither! Unlike some other adjectives in Spanish, mi (my) and tu (your) do not have masculine or feminine forms. They only change to show plural (mis and tus). So, mi mamá is correct regardless of who is speaking. Why is the verb habla and not hablo?
Habla is the form of the verb hablar (to speak) used for 'he', 'she', or 'it'. Since you are talking about your mom (which is a 'she'), you use habla. You would only use hablo if you were talking about yourself: yo hablo español (I speak Spanish). Why isn't español capitalized like 'Spanish' is in English?
In Spanish, the names of languages (like español or inglés) are not capitalized unless they are the very first word in a sentence. Why does mamá have an accent mark?
The accent mark tells you to put the spoken stress on that last syllable (ma-MA). Without it, the word mama (MA-ma) means 'breast' or is a form of the verb mamar (to suckle). Accent marks are important for both pronunciation and meaning in Spanish! Learn Mi mamá habla español and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free