Question 1

Why do we use ellas instead of ellos here?

Accepted Answer

Since the sentence is about a group of women, we must use the feminine plural pronoun ellas. In Spanish, ellos is used for a group of males or a mixed group of males and females, while ellas is strictly for a group of females.

Question 2

Why is the verb son used instead of están?

Accepted Answer

Both words mean 'are', but we use son (a form of the verb ser) to talk about core identities, traits, and permanent characteristics. Since being a young woman is part of who they are, we use son instead of están, which is generally used for temporary states, feelings, or locations.

Question 3

Why does the word for women end in '-es' (mujeres) instead of just '-s'?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, if a singular noun ends in a vowel, you usually just add '-s' to make it plural. But because the singular word mujer ends in a consonant (r), you must add '-es' to make it plural, creating mujeres.

Question 4

Why does jóvenes have an accent mark when the singular word joven does not?

Accepted Answer

When you make joven plural by adding '-es', it adds an extra spoken syllable. To keep the voice's emphasis on the exact same 'o' sound as in the singular word, Spanish requires a written accent mark on that vowel: jóvenes.

Question 5

Why is the order mujeres jóvenes and not jóvenes mujeres?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, descriptive adjectives like jóvenes (young) generally come after the noun they are describing (mujeres). This is the reverse of English, where we usually put the adjective before the noun.

Ellas son mujeres jóvenes.

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