Breakdown of Hay una quincena de guardias cerca de la calle.
de
from / of
una
a, an (feminine)
haber
to be (there is / there are)
cerca
close / near
la calle
street
el guardia
guard
la quincena
fortnight / about fifteen
Questions & Answers about Hay una quincena de guardias cerca de la calle.
I've seen quincena used to mean a two-week period or a paycheck. Why does it mean "about fifteen" here?
You are right! In Latin America, quincena commonly refers to a fortnight (15 days) or a bi-weekly paycheck. However, it is also a collective noun meaning a set of approximately fifteen things, formed by adding the suffix -ena to quince. Just like a "dozen" implies a group of twelve, una quincena de guardias means a group of roughly fifteen guards.
Why do we need the word de after quincena? Can I just say una quincena guardias?
You must include de because quincena is a noun, not a number adjective. While a standard number goes directly before the noun (like quince guardias), words ending in -ena are collective nouns. To connect two nouns in Spanish, you always need the preposition de.
The word ends in "-a", so is guardias feminine here?
Not necessarily! As an institution, la guardia (the guard or police force) is always feminine. However, an individual guard is el guardia (male) or la guardia (female). Because this sentence refers to a group of individual people, guardias here is plural and would take masculine adjectives if it is a male or mixed-gender group.
Could I just say unos quince guardias to mean the same thing?
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