Breakdown of El chico es un estudiante nuevo y la chica es una estudiante nueva.
ser
to be
y
and
el estudiante
the student
nuevo
new / another, different (before the noun)
un
a, an, some
el chico
the boy
la chica
the girl
Questions & Answers about El chico es un estudiante nuevo y la chica es una estudiante nueva.
The word for student (estudiante) is exactly the same for both the boy and the girl. How do we know whether to use un or una?
Nouns ending in -e usually don't change their spelling for masculine or feminine. Instead, the words attached to them do the work! Because we are talking about a boy (el chico), we use the masculine indefinite article un. For the girl (la chica), we use the feminine indefinite article una.
I thought we skip words like un and una when talking about being a student, like in the phrase 'él es estudiante'. Why are they used here?
You have a great memory! Usually, you drop the article for professions and roles. However, the rule changes when you add a describing word (an adjective). Because we are specifically saying they are a new student (nuevo or nueva), we have to bring the article back. That is why we say un estudiante nuevo.
Why does it say estudiante nuevo instead of nuevo estudiante?
In English, we put the describing word before the noun ('new student'). In Spanish, describing words (adjectives) almost always come after the noun they describe. So, it translates literally as 'a student new' (un estudiante nuevo).
Why does nuevo change to nueva at the end of the sentence?
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