Breakdown of Mi hermana necesita un hacha afilada para cortar el árbol.
para
for / in order to (+ infinitive) / by (a deadline)
el árbol
the tree
un
a, an, some
la hermana
the sister
mi
my
necesitar
to need
cortar
to cut
el hacha
the axe (f)
afilado
sharp
Questions & Answers about Mi hermana necesita un hacha afilada para cortar el árbol.
Why does this sentence use un hacha if hacha is a feminine noun?
Because hacha starts with a stressed 'a' sound (the 'h' is silent). To avoid the awkward clashing sound of saying una hacha, Spanish borrows the masculine article un for the singular.
If it uses un, why is the adjective feminine (afilada instead of afilado)?
The noun hacha is still fundamentally feminine! It only borrows the masculine article to fix a pronunciation issue. Adjectives describing the noun must always match its true gender, which is why we use afilada.
What would happen to the words un hacha if my sister needed multiple axes?
Why do we use para instead of por before cortar?
When followed by an infinitive verb like cortar (to cut), para is used to express a purpose, goal, or intention. You can think of para cortar as translating exactly to 'in order to cut'.
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