Cierto vs Cierta
How do you determine when to use "cierto" or "cierta"? If answering a question with the one word "True", which should be used?
1 Answer
Cierto, as an adjective will match the gender and number of what it is referring to- cierto, ciertos, cierta, ciertas. As with all adjectives if what is being referred to is undefined or not formed into a specific noun, ti will take the masculine singular.
Generally if it is not associated with a noun, or referring back to one, it will be cierto See these examples in our dictionary, there is more there
http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/cierto
ADJECTIVE
- (verdadero)
a. true
no es cierto (que…)it is not true (that…)
es el hijo de Javier, ¿no es cierto?he's Javier's son, isn't he?
si bien es cierto que…while it is true that…
estar en lo ciertoto be right
lo cierto es que…the fact is that…
- (algún)
a. certain
cierto hombrea certain man
cierto día…one day…
en cierta ocasiónonce, on one occasion
ADVERB
- (undoubtedly)
a. certainly
Cierto, con la lluvia que hace hoy, deberíamos habernos quedado en casa.Certainly, as rainy as it is today, we should have stayed at home.
