Breakdown of Nuestra nuera es la que ayudará a nuestra sobrina.
ser
to be
nuestro
our
ayudar
to help
que
that / than
la
the (feminine)
la nuera
the daughter-in-law
la sobrina
the niece
a
personal 'a' (marks a human direct object)
Questions & Answers about Nuestra nuera es la que ayudará a nuestra sobrina.
Why do we use la que here instead of just que or quien?
la que translates to "the one who" or "the one that." It acts as a shortcut to avoid repeating a noun. We use the feminine singular la because it refers back to nuestra nuera. While you could technically use quien here (meaning "who"), using a definite article plus que (el que, la que, los que, las que) is the most natural way to say "the one(s) who" in Spanish.
Why is there an a right before nuestra sobrina?
This is the "personal a." In Spanish, whenever the direct object of a verb is a specific person (or a beloved pet), you must put an a directly in front of it. Since the niece is a specific person receiving the help from the verb ayudará, we need the a.
The word sobrina (niece) changes to sobrino for a nephew. Is the male equivalent of nuera just "nuero"?
Could I say va a ayudar instead of ayudará here?
Yes, absolutely! Both ayudará (the simple future tense) and va a ayudar (the informal future, using ir a + infinitive) mean "will help" or "is going to help." In everyday spoken Spanish in Latin America, va a ayudar is often used even more frequently than the simple future tense.
Learn Nuestra nuera es la que ayudará a nuestra sobrina 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