Why Would You Say "el Agua"? - Answers - SpanishDict

Maybe your like

HomeQ&AWhy would you say "el agua"?Why would you say "el agua"?3votes

Recently I found out by a co-worker that saying "la agua" is wrong yet she couldn't explain to me exactly why. I asked around and nobody had the same answer. You would say "la puerta", "la arana", "la fruta", "la soda".. so I'm confused as to why that word is different.

3911 viewsupdated Jun 13, 2010posted by street_discipleBased on all of the answers, it would seem your la arana is also in need of a fix. - LateToDinner, Jun 11, 2010No, la araña is correct because the beginning A is not the accented syllable. It's aRAña, so the la and the A don't run together sufficiently to need to change the article to el. - MacFadden, Jun 12, 2010

5 Answers

2votes

Hello. Though agua is feminine because it ends in 'A', as you rightly point out, it takes the masculine article el in the singular because it begins with an a stressed A sound. This is because la agua is sort of an ungainly creature to pronounce; if you said la agua, the 'A's of la and agua would run together unfavorably. In the plural, it returns to the expected feminine article, las, because the 'S' provides the requisite separation of syllables. It is appropriate to note here that the word agua never changes genders. It is always feminine, even when the masculine article is used, so if you want to describe water, the adjective will end in an 'A': el agua clara. Other Spanish words that start with a stressed A sound follow the same rule. Your example of la araña uses the feminine article even in the singular because the emphasis is not on the first syllable, and so the words naturally tend to slur together less.

updated Jun 13, 2010edited by MacFaddenposted by MacFaddenHow do I distinguish the emphasis on the first syllable of a verb? "La antigua" not "el" right? - street_disciple, Jun 11, 2010It's just whatever syllable is pronounced the loudest. If antigua were a noun, it would be preceded by la because antigua is pronounced anTIgua, emphasis on second syllable. - MacFadden, Jun 12, 2010The rule for pronouncing accents is this: if the word ends in a vowel, an N, or an S, the the second to last syllable is emphasized, unless there is a written accent, in which case that syllable is emphasized. Contd... - MacFadden, Jun 12, 2010If the word ends in any other letter (a consonant that isn't N or S), the last syllable is emphasized. - MacFadden, Jun 12, 2010Oh, and I just noticed that you said "first syllable of a verb". This only applies to nouns. (El and la don't really go before verbs much.) It does not apply to adjectives. Contd... - MacFadden, Jun 12, 2010So, for example, if there were such an adjective as 'ántigua' which there isn't, and you wanted to say "la ántigua profesora" you would not use el even though la and ántigua would run together because la refers to the profesora. - MacFadden, Jun 12, 2010Thanks MacFadden, your explanations really helped. - street_disciple, Jun 12, 2010You're most welcome. Glad I helped. - MacFadden, Jun 13, 20103votes

Because agua begins with an "a", so therefore "la agua" sounds awkward. thre is a rule about that.

In the plural, it's las aguas.

Here is an article about that

updated Jun 11, 2010edited by Goyoposted by Goyo2votes

As KevinB pointed out in his comment, agua is a bit of an anomaly because it is a feminine noun that takes the masculine article! But when you talk about water, the adjectives remain feminine. For example:

el agua está fría - the water is cold

This is quite different from masculine nouns, such as problema and systema. Since those words are masculine, the adjectives used to describe them are also in the masculine form. For example: el problema complicado - the complicated problem.

updated Jun 11, 2010posted by waltico1vote

I think it comes down to the sound and ease of pronuncation.

updated Jun 10, 2010posted by nizhoni10votes

There are a good many words in Spanish that, although they end in "a", are masculine.

el drama

el sístema

el programa

updated Jun 11, 2010edited by Delores--Lindseyposted by Delores--LindseySee Goyo's answer about agua. - Delores--Lindsey, Jun 10, 2010Agua is feminine - agua fresca. But, as goyo said, la agua is hard to say. - KevinB, Jun 10, 2010you mean el sistema....All words of Greek origen like these are masculine - dreamweaver, Jun 11, 2010Thanks for catching that, dreamweaver! - Delores--Lindsey, Jun 11, 2010🚀 Remove adsSpanishDictionary.com is the world's most popular Spanish-English dictionary, translation, and learning website.FEATURESTranslationConjugationVocabularyLearn SpanishGrammarWord of the DayABOUTAbout UsPrivacyTermsSite MapHelpContact UsSOCIAL NETWORKSFacebookXXInstagramAPPSAppleiOSAndroidAndroid IXL learning logo