Question 1

Why doesn't vi have an accent mark? Usually, past tense verbs for "I" end in an accented letter.

Accepted Answer

Vi is the "I" form of ver (to see) in the past tense. It is a short, one-syllable word. In Spanish, one-syllable words don't get accent marks unless they need to be told apart from another word with the exact same spelling. Since there is no other word spelled vi, it doesn't need an accent.

Question 2

Why use aquellas for "those"? Couldn't I just use esas?

Accepted Answer

You could use esas, but aquellas gives extra information about distance! In Spanish, esas means "those" (usually near the listener), while aquellas means "those over there" (far from both the speaker and the listener). It also ends in -as to match the feminine, plural word uvas (grapes).

Question 3

Why is it uvas verdes and not verdes uvas?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, descriptive words like colors almost always go after the noun they describe. So, "green grapes" becomes "grapes green" (uvas verdes). Notice that verde also gets an -s added to the end so it correctly matches the plural noun uvas.

Question 4

How come it says la tienda de mi abuelo instead of something like mi abuelo's tienda?

Accepted Answer

Spanish doesn't use an apostrophe-s ('s) to show ownership. To say something belongs to someone, you have to use the word de (of) and flip the order. So, "my grandfather's shop" must always be phrased as "the shop of my grandfather" (la tienda de mi abuelo).

Vi aquellas uvas verdes en la tienda de mi abuelo.

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