Teacher Discussion Forums

I am an inexperienced teacher of a group of Mexican adults (false beginners). One of my students asked a question which left me without an answer. I would much appreciate any kind of response which might be suitable for a Spanish speaker.

In English we say: I am Mexican, We are Mexican NOT We are Mexicans
Likewise: I am English, We are English NOT We are Englishes etc.

However, unlike nationalities, Occupations do take an –s in the plural form.
Eg. I am an Engineer, We are engineers NOT we are engineer.

In Spanish all these words are adjectives (Mexicano/a,Inglés/a, Ingeniero/a) and as a consequence they all take a plural form by adding –s. How do I explain such a difference and when to add –s and when not to?

Thanks in advance for your help

Mark Buckingham

Dear Mark,

You posted:

"In Spanish all these words are adjectives (Mexicano/a,Inglés/a, Ingeniero/a)..." the parts of speech in Spanish are not different from English, so "ingeniero" is a noun. Nouns, both in English are Spanish take a plural form by adding –s.

Mexicano - adjetivo - no plural
Arquitecto - sustantivo (noun) si plural.

Hope this helps.

Otherwise, please let me know.
Good luck!!!
Zirta

Zirta is quite correct, Mark,

But just to look again at your original sentences:

1. I am Mexican. We are Mexican. We are Mexicans.
2. I am an Engineer. We are Engineers.

In the first group, I am Mexican contains a predicate adjective after the verb. Adjectives, by way of reminder, do not take plural forms, and hence there is no "-s" in the second sentence in the group. However, the word Mexican can also be taken to be a noun. If that were the case, the first sentence would be I am a Mexican. If the person using it takes it that way, then it is quite proper to add the "-s" at the end in plural forms. So the third sentence in the group is also correct.

In the second group, there is no confusion. There is clearly a predicate noun after the verb. So, of course, the plural form "engineers" is proper.

Hope this helps.

Larry Latham