Breakdown of Tiene barba porque no se afeita.
no
no / not
porque
because
tener
to have
se
himself / herself / themselves (reflexive)
la barba
the beard
afeitarse
to shave
Questions & Answers about Tiene barba porque no se afeita.
Why is it just Tiene barba and not Tiene una barba?
In Spanish, when talking about possessing something that a person typically only has one of (like a beard), the indefinite article una is usually left out after the verb tener. You would only add una if you were describing it, such as Tiene una barba larga (He has a long beard).
Why is the word se used in no se afeita?
The verb here is afeitarse (to shave oneself), which is a reflexive verb. The pronoun se shows that he is performing the action on himself. If you just said no afeita, it would mean he isn't shaving someone or something else.
How do we know this means 'he' has a beard if the word él isn't in the sentence?
In Spanish, subject pronouns like él are frequently dropped because the verb endings already tell us who is doing the action. Both tiene and afeita are conjugated for the he/she/it/formal you form. We only add él if we need to clarify who we are talking about or for emphasis.
Is there a difference between porque in this sentence and por qué?
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