The Eagles - Sports Team
The sports team name for the university where I study Spanish is the Eagles, Águilas. Two questions, águila appears to be a feminine noun but when I enter "eagle" into the translator, it returns "el águila." When I enter "águila" the translator returns "eagle" and identifies it as a feminine noun. Do you have any idea why that might be? Secondly, how would one distinguish in Spanish between the Eagles which would normally refer to the men's team and the women's team which we refer to in English as the lady Eagles?
3 Answers
My understanding is that when a noun starts with a vowel that is accented you use the masculine article before it, though the noun itself remains feminine.
This is true, but only for the vowel A.
Secondly, how would one distinguish in Spanish between the Eagles which would normally refer to the men's team and the women's team which we refer to in English as the lady Eagles?
Los águilas / Las águilas
Las águilas de tenis feminino.
This would mean "...... of feminine tennis". We say "tenis para mujeres / tenis de moda mujer".
My understanding is that when a noun starts with a vowel that is accented you use the masculine article before it, though the noun itself remains feminine. This is only the case in the singular.
El águila Las águilas
It's just easier to stress the vowel when you're coming off a consonant sound.
Someone can correct me if I've got this wrong.
I'm not entirely certain how you'd say the sports equivalent, but maybe it makes sense that it would follow the convention with other sports teams. Women's soccer=fútbol feminino.
So perhaps just use the sport whose women's team you're referring to. Las águilas de tenis feminino.
Or maybe just Las águilas femininas? The only other alternative I can think of would be hembra, but then you're specifically making the eagle feminine, not the team, hee.
