Log inSign up

Sus hijas estudian español.

Sus hijas estudian español.
Her daughters study Spanish.
From Lesson 22:Possessive determiners (mi, tu, su)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Sus hijas estudian español.

Why is it sus if the translation says "her"? Isn't "her" singular?
In Spanish, possessive words like su or sus (meaning his, her, or their) must match the thing being owned, not the owner. Because the sentence is about multiple daughters (hijas), you must use the plural form sus, even though there is only one mother.
Since sus means multiple things, could this sentence also mean "His daughters study Spanish"?
Yes! Su and sus can translate to his, her, its, their, or even formal "your". Without more context, Sus hijas estudian español could just as easily mean "His daughters", "Their daughters", or "Your (formal) daughters".
Why does the verb estudiar change to estudian here?
Estudian is the "they" form of the verb estudiar (to study). You use the "they" form because the subject doing the studying is sus hijas (her daughters).
Why isn't the language español capitalized here?
In Spanish, names of languages (like español or inglés) and nationalities are always written with a lowercase letter, unlike in English where they are capitalized.

Learn Sus hijas estudian español and more in Spanish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Spanish →