Articles in Spanish + Matching genders

Question

Hi Kwiziq Team,

Please may I ask the following questions:

1) 'Soy profesora de español' - I am a Spanish teacher.

**Why is the answer not 'Soy una profesora de español' - why is there no need for the 'una' / 'a' in this sentence?

2) 'Está en el centro de la ciudad' - It is in the centre of the city.

**Why would the correct sentence not be 'Está en el centra de la ciudad' - would 'centro' not need to change to 'centra' to work with 'la ciudad' which is feminine?

Or is 'centro' simply a location, not an adjective in this example so doesn't have to change gender?

Apologies if my questions are confusing! Thanks very much for your help! Great website!

Natasha

Answer

Hola Natasha,
1. We do drop the article when we are saying what we do for a living. It works differently to English. There is no further explanation I am afraid; it is simply a rule in Spanish. Here is a lesson about this. Have a look.
2. The word centro is a noun that already has a gender. It is masculine "el centro". This word doesn't need to change or agree with ciudad. What you would need to make agree with ciudad is any adjective that may come with it. For example:

Estoy en el centro de una ciudad bonita y moderna.
I am in the centre of a pretty and modern city.

The adjectives that modify the noun "ciudad" (femenine: la ciudad/una ciudad) need to agree with it: bonita / moderna
I hope this helped.
Saludos
Inma

Answer

Thanks very much for the informative answer.