As their name suggests, these adjectives indicate distribution of the different elements of a noun.
cada
(each , every) |
sendos(m), sendas(f)
(each, both) |
tal(s), tales(p)
(such) |
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"Cada" is invariable in gender and it is only used with singular nouns:
- Cada día que pasa, mi español mejora.
(Every day that goes by, my Spanish improves.)
- Cada día que pasa te quiero más.
(I love you more with every day that goes by.)
- A cada día le corresponde su preocupación.
(Each day brings its own worries.)
"Cada" may also be used with mass nouns (plural nouns that are treated as one unit:
- Cada tribu tenía un jefe.
(Each tribe has a chief.)
"Sendos" and "sendas" can be translated as "each of two" or " both" and are always plural:
- Sus dos amigos me enviaron sendas postales.
(His two friends each/both sent me a postcard.)
- Mira a José y Martín con sus sendos coches.
(Look at José and Martín with their (each) cars.
"Tal" or "tales" can often be translated simply as "this" or "that".
- Tal conducta no me agrada = Esa conducta no me agrada.
(I don’t like that/such behaviour.)
- No me convences con tal argumento.
(You don’t convince me with such an argument.)
- No me cuentes tales cosas.
(Don’t tell me things like that.)
"Tal" can also function as a pronoun.
- El director no dijo tal. (The head didn’t say that/such a thing.)
It also appears in set phrases such as:
- tal vez (perhaps)
- ¿Qué tal? (How are you? How is everything going?)
