la mujer
/la muxeɾ/from spelling rules
la mujer is the Spanish phrase for "the woman".
la mujer is used to refer to an adult female human. It is the most common and neutral way to say "the woman" in Spanish and is universally understood in any Spanish-speaking country.
Which one should you use?
la mujer is the feminine counterpart to the masculine phrase el hombre, which means "the man".
How does it change in a sentence?
The article la is feminine and must agree in gender with the noun mujer. When making the phrase plural, both the article and the noun change to their feminine plural forms to become las mujeres.
How do you pronounce it?
/la muxeɾ/
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, if a man refers to 'mi mujer', he is often not just talking about a woman, but is specifically using a common idiom to mean 'my wife'.
- In some Spanish-speaking contexts, the phrase una mujer de mundo suggests a woman is socially sophisticated and worldly, rather than simply having traveled.
- The Spanish word for 'woman', mujer, is a distant cognate of the English word 'matron', as both traces back to concepts of female status in Indo-European roots.
Examples in context
- La mujer es alta.The woman is tall.
- La mujer lee un libro.The woman is reading a book.
- ¿Quién es la mujer de la foto?Who is the woman in the photo?
- La mujer camina por el parque.The woman walks through the park.
Example conversation
Sofía and Alejandro are looking at a photograph.
- Sofía¿Ves a la mujer de rojo?Do you see the woman in red?
- AlejandroSí, la mujer es muy elegante.Yes, the woman is very elegant.
- SofíaEs mi tía, la mujer de la derecha.It is my aunt, the woman on the right.
- AlejandroElla parece muy simpática.She seems very nice.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
