Learn Spanish (Spain): El niño abre la boca.

El niño abre la boca.

The boy opens his mouth.

Breakdown of El niño abre la boca.

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Questions & Answers about El niño abre la boca.

Why does it say la boca (the mouth) instead of su boca (his mouth)?

In Spanish, when you talk about someone's body parts, you usually use the definite article (el, la, los, las) instead of a possessive word like su (his). Because the sentence is about el niño, it is already obvious whose mouth is opening!

What is the dictionary form of the verb abre?

The dictionary form (infinitive) is abrir (to open). Because el niño acts as "he" (third-person singular), we drop the -ir ending and add -e to make abre.

Could abre also mean "she opens" or "you open"?

Yes! The verb form abre is used for él (he), ella (she), and usted (you, formal). We only know it means "he opens" here because the sentence specifically names el niño as the subject.

Does el niño mean "the boy" or "the child"?

It can mean both! El niño can refer specifically to a male child (a boy), or it can refer to a child in general. Both translations are perfectly fine.