Learn Spanish (Spain): Nosotros recibimos un mensaje del profesor.

Nosotros recibimos un mensaje del profesor.

We receive a message from the teacher.

Breakdown of Nosotros recibimos un mensaje del profesor.

nosotros

we / us (after a preposition)

Questions & Answers about Nosotros recibimos un mensaje del profesor.

Why does the verb recibimos end in -imos?

Recibimos comes from the regular verb recibir (to receive). In the present tense, when talking about "we" (nosotros), verbs that end in -ir drop the -ir and add -imos.

Is it strictly necessary to include the word nosotros at the beginning?

No, it is optional! In Spanish, the ending of the verb (-imos) already tells us that the subject is "we". You can just say Recibimos un mensaje del profesor and it means the exact same thing. People often include nosotros just to add a little emphasis.

Where does the word del come from?

Del is a mandatory combination of two words: de (of/from) and el (the masculine word for "the"). Whenever de is followed directly by el, they must merge into del. You will never see de el written as two separate words.

The word mensaje ends in "-e". How do I know to use un instead of una?

Unlike nouns ending in "-o" (which are usually masculine) or "-a" (usually feminine), nouns ending in "-e" don't give you a reliable clue about their gender. You just have to memorize whether they are masculine or feminine when you learn them. Mensaje is masculine, so we use the masculine word for "a", which is un.