Participants
Who or what is involved?
Meaning
Participants are the people and things involved in what we say, including animals, places, and ideas. They may act, have something happen to them, or simply be described. Languages name them with nouns or pronouns, but some do not require a separate word for every participant. Unlike Doer or cause, this block includes everyone and everything involved, not just what makes an event happen.
How to spot it
Look for who or what is named, referred to by a pronoun, or understood from the situation.
In your native language
English usually names a participant with a noun, a name, or a pronoun such as she. A noun can have other words with it, as in my old bike; together these words form a noun phrase. When a participant is the subject, English normally expresses it even when the listener knows who is meant.
My new neighbor works at the library.
Several words together name one participant.
She has a small dog.
She refers to a person already identified.
Your plan sounds good.
An idea can be a participant too.
In your learning language
Spanish names participants with nouns and pronouns, including people, things, places, and ideas. Articles and adjectives often change form to match the noun's group and whether it is singular or plural. A participant understood from the verb or context does not always need a separate word.
La vecina guarda las llaves en un cajón.
The neighbor keeps the keys in a drawer.
The noun groups name the person, the things, and the place involved.
Nosotros llevamos la comida; ellos traen las bebidas.
We bring the food; they bring the drinks.
The pronouns explicitly contrast the two groups.
Learners whose language has no articles may leave them out before ordinary nouns. Learners whose language requires a subject pronoun in every sentence may add pronouns even when the Spanish verb already makes the participant clear.