Breakdown of Calculamos un tercio del presupuesto.
un
a, an (masculine)
del
from the / of the
el presupuesto
the budget
calcular
to calculate
el tercio
the third (fraction)
Questions & Answers about Calculamos un tercio del presupuesto.
Why do we use un tercio here instead of un tercer?
Un tercio is a noun meaning "a third" (the fraction). Tercer is an adjective meaning "third" (referring to order, like first, second, third), and it is used right before a masculine noun, as in el tercer día (the third day). Since we are talking about a mathematical fraction of a total amount, we must use the noun tercio.
Could calculamos also mean "we calculated" in the past tense?
Yes! For regular -ar verbs like calcular, the "we" form is exactly the same in both the present tense (calculamos) and the simple past tense or preterite (calculamos). You always have to rely on the surrounding context to know if it means "we calculate" or "we calculated".
Why is it del instead of just de before presupuesto?
When you express a fraction of a specific, known thing, you use de (of) followed by the definite article (the) for that noun. Here, "the budget" is el presupuesto. In Spanish, whenever de and el are next to each other, they must combine into the single word del (of the).
Is the word presupuesto (budget) related to the verb suponer (to suppose)?
Yes, it is! Presupuesto literally means "pre-supposed" or "assumed in advance." It is made of the prefix pre- and supuesto (the past participle of suponer). Thinking of a budget as an amount you "suppose in advance" is a great trick to remember this vocabulary word.
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