How to Say ‘There were mariachis on the water.’ in Mexican Spanish
Había mariachis en el agua.
ah-BEE-ah mah-ree-AH-chees ehn el AH-gwah
[ah-BEE-ah mah-ree-AH-chees ehn el AH-gwah]
🇲🇽 In Mexico: In Xochimilco, mariachis ride their own boats and pull alongside trajineras to sell songs. People pay per song, so it's a fun detail friends will recognize.
Phrase Breakdown
Había mariachis
ah-BEE-ah mah-ree-AH-chees
There were mariachis
'Había' means 'there was/were'. The 'h' is silent: 'a-BEE-a ma-RYA-chees'.
Había mucha gente.
There were a lot of people.
Words in this phrase
Había
[ah-BEE-ah]
there was / there were
Past (imperfect) form of 'hay', describing a past situation.
Había mucha gente en la fiesta.
There were a lot of people at the party.
mariachis
[mah-ree-AH-chees]
mariachi musicians
Traditional Mexican bands with trumpets, violins and guitars.
Los mariachis cantaron en la fiesta.
The mariachis sang at the party.
en el agua.
ehn el AH-gwah
on the water.
In Xochimilco, mariachis play on boats. Link the words: 'e-ne-LA-gwa'.
Nadamos en el agua.
We swam in the water.
Words in this phrase
en
[ehn]
on
Used after 'quedar' to mark what was agreed.
Quedamos en un precio.
We agreed on a price.
el
[el]
the
Masculine singular definite article.
«El» acompaña al sustantivo en «El crecimiento».
“El” accompanies the noun in “The growth.”
agua
[AH-gwah]
water
Feminine noun that uses 'el' in the singular.
No hay agua.
There is no water.
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