Breakdown of Los mitos dicen que los dragones son malvados.
ser
to be
los
the (masculine plural)
que
that / than
decir
to say, to tell
el dragón
dragon
el mito
the myth
malvado
evil
Questions & Answers about Los mitos dicen que los dragones son malvados.
Since this lesson is about the neuter article lo, why don't we use it here and say lo malvado?
If you said lo malvado, you would be turning the adjective into a noun meaning the evil thing or that which is evil. This sentence just wants to describe the dragons with a normal adjective, so it uses malvados to match the masculine plural subject los dragones.
Why does the Spanish sentence use los dragones when the English translation just says dragons?
In Spanish, when you talk about a noun in a general sense (like dragons in general as a species or concept), you must include the definite article. Because dragón is a masculine noun, the plural uses los.
Why do we use son instead of están for being evil?
We use ser (the infinitive of son) to describe permanent, inherent characteristics or defining traits. According to these myths, being evil is in the very nature of dragons, rather than a temporary mood or condition.
The singular word for dragon is dragón with an accent mark. Why does dragones not have one?
In Spanish, words ending in -n, -s, or a vowel naturally stress the second-to-last syllable. The singular dragón breaks this rule by stressing the final syllable, so it needs a written accent. Adding -es for the plural adds an extra syllable, so the spoken stress naturally falls on the second-to-last syllable (-go-). Because the natural rule now applies, the written accent mark is no longer needed.
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