How do we define the subject?

Question

Hello everyone !!!

I am totally new here so I don't quite know how to use the site yet. But sure I will get the hang of it soon. I just start learning Spanish and I have a question. I am not sure if someone already had asked this question because I did not see any relevant questions when I searched. Anyway, what I wanna ask is how do we know if the subject is she or he (él or ella), for example: I saw a sentence like this "Es ama de casa, es éspañola" so how do I know if the subject is él or ella when the verb to be is both conjugated as ES ?

Thanks

In the particular sentence you have, you know it is a female, as it is española, not español. :) - bosquederoble, Jul 29, 2016

Welcome to SpanishDict. - rac1, Jul 29, 2016

Thank you for filling out your profile Dang , that is worth a vote from me and all mods. - ray76, Jul 31, 2016

"want to ask " not "wanna" , we teach bEnglish and Spanish Dang therefore we have to be strict , otherwise your sentence is perfect. - ray76, Jul 31, 2016

Thanks, duly noted - danghuynh, Jul 31, 2016

If she would be a man the sentence would be. Es amO de casa, es español. - 000a35ff, Jul 31, 2016

Answer 1

In cases like these, there must be some sort of clue written in a previous sentence. If not, it is almost impossible to find out if the subject is a boy ("él) or a girl ("ella"). The only other way is to check if there are adjectives that are changed to the masculine or feminine subject. Those two are the only two ways I'm sure of.

Suertes, amigo.

Gracias !!! - danghuynh, Jul 31, 2016

Great answer mate, thank you . - ray76, Jul 31, 2016

Answer 2

I am bumping this post because Dang needs help to get started and he is a very

well mannered young guy that is trying hard to succeed.

Oh thanks Ray, I did not expect a lot of welcome to be honest haha, I thought it's jut like others Language groups, everyone seems to be serious and lame :-) - danghuynh, Jul 31, 2016

:) - ian-hill, Jul 31, 2016

Answer 3

Hey guys, thanks a lot. Does it require to write English correctly here in term of grammar ? I haven't had time to fill up my profile yet. Yes I am from Vietnam but had lived in Aus for a while.

You are doing just fine mate , I am an Aussie and they pick on me because my English is different . Remember Dang this is a family group and therefore we have fun and rib each other a lot . - ray76, Jul 31, 2016

As far as your English goes, just do the best you can. If you make mistakes we will understand the reason. - Daniela2041, Jul 31, 2016

Thanks lads - danghuynh, Jul 31, 2016

@ Dang, "and lasses " . - ray76, Jul 31, 2016

Answer 4

wanna, is not a word.

You just startED to learn Spanish.

Dang hasn't filled in his profile so we don't know if English is is native language. His name is Vietnamese. He just may have learned some American slang. - Daniela2041, Jul 29, 2016

nice one, how can u spot my name is a vietnamese name :-) - danghuynh, Jul 31, 2016

@HerefordLighting Thanks Here :-) duly noted - danghuynh, Jul 31, 2016

@Dang: As a linguist I can usually spot the nationality of a name after becoming familiar with some aspects of the language. - Daniela2041, Jul 31, 2016

@ Hereford , in future put corrections in the comments , otherwise it is too embarrassing this way because it highlights it too much . - ray76, Jul 31, 2016