Question 1

Why is the verb eligió spelled with an "i" instead of an "e" (elegió)?

Accepted Answer

The verb is elegir (to choose). In the past tense (Pretérito Indefinido), some -ir verbs change their stem vowel from e to i, but only in the third-person forms (he/she/it/you formal, and they/you all). Since "the customer" is third-person singular, the e changes to i, giving us eligió instead of "elegió".

Question 2

Doesn't más caro mean "more expensive"? How do we know it means "the most expensive"?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, you form "the most" by combining a definite article (el, la, los, las) with más. Because the sentence uses el plato (the dish), adding más caro after it creates the "superlative" meaning: "the most expensive". If you had used "a" instead of "the" (un plato más caro), it would just mean "a more expensive dish".

Question 3

Why do we use del instead of de el before menú?

Accepted Answer

Whenever the preposition de (of/from) is immediately followed by the masculine article el (the), they are forced to squeeze together into the single word del. So "of the menu" becomes del menú. This is a mandatory spelling rule in Spanish to make pronunciation smoother.

Question 4

Is cliente always a masculine word since it uses el here?

Accepted Answer

Not necessarily! Words ending in -e often don't have a built-in gender and can be used for both men and women. The article tells you who you are talking about. If the customer were a woman, you would say la cliente (though the feminine form la clienta is also very common and perfectly correct in Spain).

El cliente eligió el plato más caro del menú.

Breakdown of El cliente eligió el plato más caro del menú.

Questions & Answers about El cliente eligió el plato más caro del menú.

Learn El cliente eligió el plato más caro del menú and more in Spanish