¿Eres un niño o una niña?
The English phrase "are you a boy or a girl?" is translated into Spanish as ¿Eres un niño o una niña?
This question is used to ask a child about their gender.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase un niño o una niña literally translates to "a boy or a girl". In this phrase, un is the masculine indefinite article and una is the feminine indefinite article. The gender of the nouns is indicated by their endings: niño ends in -o for masculine and niña ends in -a for feminine.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb Eres is the second-person singular informal form of the verb ser (to be). In Spanish, questions are marked by an inverted question mark (¿) at the beginning and a standard question mark (?) at the end.
Did you know?
- The word niño is likely an imitative word that mimics the sound of infantile baby talk, similar to how English uses the word 'nanny'.
- The word eres is a linguistic oddity because it actually comes from the Latin future tense meaning 'you will be', rather than the standard present tense.
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, niño and niña can be used as affectionate terms for adults, such as a parent calling their grown child mi niño.
Example conversation
A teacher is playing with a small child in a classroom.
- JavierHola, pequeña, ¿Eres un niño o una niña?Hello, little one, are you a boy or a girl?
- LucíaSoy una niña.I am a girl.
- Javier¡Qué bien, eres una niña muy linda!That's great, you are a very cute girl!
- LucíaGracias, Javier.Thank you, Javier.
