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Ellas están contentas porque tienen tanto espacio como nosotras.

Ellas están contentas porque tienen tanto espacio como nosotras.
They are happy because they have as much space as we do.
From Lesson 107:Noun comparatives (tanto como)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Ellas están contentas porque tienen tanto espacio como nosotras.

Why is it tanto and not tanta or tantos here?
The word tanto means "as much" or "as many" when comparing quantities of things. It always has to match the gender and number of the noun it describes. Since espacio (space) is a masculine singular noun, we use the masculine singular form tanto.
Why doesn't the Spanish sentence end with a verb to mean "as we do"?
In English, we often end comparisons with helper verbs like "do" or "are" (as in "as much space as we do"). In Spanish, the comparison structure tanto ... como just needs the subject pronoun at the end. Saying como nosotras (literally "as we") is perfectly complete.
Why do we use están instead of son for "are"?
We use the verb estar (here, están) for emotions and temporary states. Because being happy (contentas) is a feeling they are experiencing right now, rather than a permanent trait, estar is the correct choice.
Why does the sentence use contentas and nosotras?
The sentence is talking about a group of females. It starts with Ellas (they, feminine), so the adjective for happy must also be feminine and plural: contentas. At the end, the speakers are also an all-female group, which is why they use nosotras instead of nosotros.

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