Breakdown of Ella no se fía de la gente que habla rápido.
ella
she / her (after a preposition)
rápido
fast
no
no / not
hablar
to speak
que
that (relative pronoun, conjunction)
la gente
the people
fiarse de
to trust
Questions & Answers about Ella no se fía de la gente que habla rápido.
How does adding the pronoun se change the meaning of fiar here?
Why is the preposition de used after se fía?
The pronominal verb fiarse always requires the preposition de to introduce the person or thing being trusted. Even though English uses a direct object for trusting someone, Spanish requires this connecting preposition.
Why is the verb habla in the singular form when English uses the plural for people?
In Spanish, la gente is a singular collective noun. Because of this, any verbs or adjectives attached to it must take the third-person singular form, which is an earlier-level concept that often trips up English speakers because the word feels inherently plural.
Is it possible to say rápidamente instead of rápido in this sentence?
Yes, absolutely! Here, rápido is functioning as an adverb to describe how the people speak. In everyday Spanish, it is very common to use the base adjective form for certain adverbs of manner like rápido, lento, or duro instead of the longer -mente version.
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