Women's lives -why written as la vida de as mujeres and not las vidas de las mujeres

Francis I.B1Kwiziq community member

Women's lives -why written as la vida de as mujeres and not las vidas de las mujeres

Asked 2 years ago
InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hola Francis

In Spanish we generally use the noun in singular when it is referring to a plural possessor; we interpret this as "the life of each of them", while this doesn't normally happen in English. For example, you may hear in school something like:

"Abran su libro por la página 20."

Open your books on page 20. 

When the teacher is saying this he is talking to all the students, but he uses the sigular "su libro" as in "each of you open your book", because each person has one book. 

You may use the plural too "abran sus libros", but it's a lot more common to use the singular form. 

Saludos

Inma

Francis I. asked:

Women's lives -why written as la vida de as mujeres and not las vidas de las mujeres

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your Spanish level for FREE

Test your Spanish to the CEFR standard

Find your Spanish level
Clever stuff happening!