why use the before so many words.
1
vote
why use the before so many words? Example son las ocho de la tarde. It's not the 8
798 views
updated May 28, 2014
edited by actorgirl
posted by tomweston
"la tarde" because we do the same in English :) It is three in "the" afternoon. :) - ian-hill, May 15, 2014
"son" because it is a fact = "las ocho" because it is more than 1 - "de la tarde" because it is of the afternoon. - ian-hill, May 15, 2014
And lastly because that is the way Spanish works - sometimes we use an article "a" "the" when Spanish does not. - ian-hill, May 15, 2014
"I am a teacher" - "Soy profesor". - ian-hill, May 15, 2014
but its not the eight,or its not the 3 in the afternoon,see what i mean - tomweston, May 28, 2014
1 Answer
2
votes
Sometimes an article is needed to distinguish nouns from verbs when the noun takes the same form as a conjugated verb. I am not very good with grammar but I bet it works the same with words that are both nouns and adjectives/adverbs.
Camino hasta la ciudad. Do I walk towards the city or is it the road to the city? Plug this sentence into the translator above and you will get both translations.
camino - which is it? A verb or a noun. El camino is clearly a noun.
updated May 16, 2014
edited by gringojrf
posted by gringojrf
