Basic prices, weather, and discoveries | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Cuánto cuesta esto?

   How much is this?

   Cuánto

   how much

   cuesta

   costs

   esto

   this

   More detail

   Cuánto asks about an amount. In this sentence it means “how much,” referring to the price. The accent mark distinguishes the interrogative form cuánto from the unstressed form cuanto, which is used in other grammatical contexts. For example: ¿Cuánto cuesta? — “How much does it cost?” Cuesta is the third-person singular present form of costar, “to cost.” The subject is the thing being priced, not the person asking: esto cuesta means “this costs.” The same verb has a useful pattern such as ¿Cuánto cuestan? — “How much do they cost?” Here cuestan is plural because the thing being priced is plural. Esto is a neuter demonstrative pronoun meaning “this.” It points to something understood in the situation without naming a masculine or feminine noun; it is not the masculine form of a nearby noun. Compare este for a masculine noun and esta for a feminine noun, as in este libro (“this book”) and esta llave (“this key”). Together, ¿Cuánto cuesta esto? asks for the price of the item or thing indicated by esto: “How much is this?” The wording uses cuesta because the indicated thing is treated as the singular subject of costar. This is a neutral, common way to ask about a price.

2. ¿Dónde vives?

   Where do you live?

   Dónde

   where

   vives

   you live

   More detail

   Dónde means “where” and asks about a place. The accent marks the interrogative form. Compare donde without an accent, which is used in statements or relative clauses, as in La ciudad donde vivo (“The city where I live”). vives is the present-tense form of vivir (“to live”) for tú (“you,” singular and informal): vivir → vives. The ending -es identifies this second-person singular form for this verb. Example: ¿Dónde trabajas? — “Where do you work?” Together, ¿Dónde vives? literally asks “Where do you live?” Spanish uses the present-tense verb directly in this question; it does not add a separate equivalent of English “do.”

3. Hace buen tiempo.

   The weather is nice.

   Hace

   it is (weather)

   buen

   nice; good

   tiempo

   weather

   More detail

   Hace is the third-person singular present form of hacer (“to do/make”). In the impersonal weather pattern hacer + noun, it describes weather rather than naming a human actor: Hace calor. = “It is hot.” The form stays singular in this pattern. buen means “good” or “nice” here. It is the shortened form of bueno used before a masculine singular noun: buen tiempo. Before a feminine singular noun, use buena, as in buena idea (“good idea”). tiempo means “weather” in this expression. The same noun can also mean “time” in other contexts, so the surrounding pattern determines the meaning: No tengo tiempo. = “I don’t have time.” Together, Hace + buen + tiempo forms the common weather expression Hace buen tiempo., meaning “The weather is nice.”

4. Ahora está lloviendo.

   It is raining now.

   Ahora

   now

   está lloviendo

   is raining

   More detail

   Ahora means “now” and places the event at the present moment. It can also appear elsewhere in a Spanish sentence, such as Ahora trabajo (“I work now”). está lloviendo expresses rain that is happening at this moment. Está is the third-person singular present form of estar; here it is used impersonally, so it does not identify a person or thing that is raining. Lloviendo is the gerund of llover (“to rain”). The pattern estar + gerundio presents an action as in progress: Está nevando means “It is snowing.” Spanish can also use the simple present Llueve (“It is raining” / “It rains”); the progressive form emphasizes the ongoing event now. Together, Ahora + está lloviendo means “It is raining now.”

5. Olvidé mi teléfono.

   I forgot my phone.

   Olvidé

   I forgot

   mi teléfono

   my phone

   More detail

   Olvidé is the first-person singular preterite of olvidar, meaning “I forgot” here. The ending -é marks the speaker as the subject in this completed past form: olvidar → olvidé. Example: Olvidé las llaves. — “I forgot the keys.” mi teléfono names the thing forgotten. teléfono is a masculine singular noun meaning “phone”; its plural is teléfonos. The possessive mi means “my” and agrees in number with the noun: mi teléfono is singular, while mis teléfonos is plural. mi does not change for grammatical gender: mi teléfono and mi mochila both use mi. Together, Olvidé mi teléfono. means “I forgot my phone.” The speaker is the person who forgot it, and mi teléfono is the object of olvidé. The sentence reports a completed past event without stating where the phone was forgotten.

6. Lo encontré.

   I found it.

   Lo

   it

   encontré

   found

   More detail

   Lo is a masculine singular direct-object pronoun. Here it refers to mi teléfono (“my phone”) from the preceding context, so lo means “it” in this sentence. Spanish object pronouns agree with the noun they replace: lo for a masculine singular noun, la for a feminine singular noun, and los/las for plural nouns. Example: La encontré. — “I found it,” referring to a feminine singular object. Encontré is the first-person singular preterite of encontrar, “to find.” The ending -é marks “I” in this past-tense form; the infinitive is encontrar, not encontré. Example: Encontré las llaves. — “I found the keys.” Together, Lo + encontré form the ordinary Spanish order for a conjugated verb with a preceding direct-object pronoun: “I found it.” The pronoun identifies the found object, and encontré identifies the action as completed by the speaker.