Breakdown of El regalo de su ahijado es más pequeño que el de su padrino.
ser
to be
de
from / of
el regalo
the gift
pequeño
small
su
his/her/its/their/your (formal)
que
that / than
más
more
el ahijado
godson
el padrino
godfather
Questions & Answers about El regalo de su ahijado es más pequeño que el de su padrino.
Why do we say el de su padrino instead of just repeating the word for gift?
We use el de as a shortcut to avoid saying el regalo de su padrino (his godfather's gift). Because regalo is masculine and singular, we use the masculine singular article el followed by de to mean "the one of" or "that of". This is the standard Spanish way to express English possessives ending in 's when the noun is already understood.
Why is the comparison más pequeño que and not más pequeño de?
The translation says "his", but could su mean "her" or "their" here?
Exactly. The possessive adjective su can mean his, her, its, their, or your (when using the formal usted or ustedes). Without extra context, this sentence could just as easily mean "Her godson's gift is smaller than her godfather's."
Are the words ahijado and padrino related to other family words?
Yes! The word ahijado means godson and comes from the root for son (hijo). Similarly, padrino means godfather and is built from the root for father (padre). You will see this same logical pattern with ahijada (goddaughter) and madrina (godmother).
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