Finding the Restroom During a Break | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Cuánto dura el descanso?

   How long is the break?

   Cuánto

   how long

   dura

   lasts

   descanso

   break; rest

   More detail

   Cuánto is an interrogative form asking about amount or extent. With dura here, it asks about duration: “how long.” The accent mark distinguishes this interrogative form from the unstressed relative or indefinite form cuanto. dura is the present-tense third-person singular form of durar, “to last.” It agrees with the singular subject el descanso, which appears after the verb. A reusable pattern is ¿Cuánto dura + singular subject? (“How long does + singular subject last?”). Example: ¿Cuánto dura la película? — “How long is the movie?” descanso is a masculine singular noun meaning “break” in this sentence. Its noun lemma is descanso; el descanso means “the break.” It can also mean “rest” in other contexts, so the intended sense here comes from the sentence’s meaning. Together, ¿Cuánto dura el descanso? asks for the duration of the break, literally asking how long the break lasts.

2. El descanso dura diez minutos.

   The break is ten minutes long.

   descanso

   break

   dura

   lasts

   diez

   ten

   minutos

   minutes

   More detail

   descanso means “break” here. The base noun is descanso; with el, it is masculine singular: el descanso. This form refers to the break as the subject of the sentence. Example: El descanso empieza ahora. — “The break starts now.” dura comes from durar, “to last.” It is the present-tense third-person singular form, agreeing with el descanso: el descanso dura. For duration, Spanish commonly uses durar followed by the length: La reunión dura una hora. — “The meeting lasts an hour.” diez means “ten.” It is an invariable number word, so it does not change for masculine or feminine nouns: diez minutos and diez horas. minutos means “minutes.” Its singular base form is minuto; the final -s marks the plural. Because diez indicates more than one, the noun is plural: diez minutos. The masculine plural form is used here; for a feminine noun, compare diez horas — “ten hours.” Together, El descanso dura diez minutos. means “The break is ten minutes long” or, more literally, “The break lasts ten minutes.” The pattern El/La + [thing] + dura + [amount of time] can be reused to state how long something lasts.

3. ¿Dónde está el baño?

   Where is the restroom?

   Dónde

   where

   está

   is located

   baño

   restroom

   More detail

   Dónde means “where” in a direct question. The accent mark distinguishes the interrogative form dónde from the unaccented relative adverb donde, used in contexts such as “the place where...”. Está is the third-person singular present form of estar, used here for the location of the restroom. A useful contrast is es from ser, which is generally used for identity or inherent description; está is the appropriate verb for saying where something is located. The subject is el baño, so the verb is singular. Baño is a masculine singular noun meaning “bathroom” or “restroom” here. Its base form is baño; the article el agrees with it in masculine singular form. The exact intended sense in this sentence is “restroom,” as shown by the fixed translation. Together, ¿Dónde está el baño? asks for the location of the restroom: “Where is the restroom?” This is a reusable Spanish pattern for asking where a singular place or object is located: ¿Dónde está + [singular noun]?

4. Sal del aula y gira a la derecha.

   Go out of the room and turn right.

   Sal

   go out

   aula

   classroom

   gira

   turn

   a la derecha

   to the right

   More detail

   Sal is the affirmative command of salir (“to go out/leave”) for tú, one person addressed informally. It is irregular: the command is sal, not the predictable-looking sale. Example: Sal de aquí. — “Leave here.” aula means “classroom” or “classroom space.” Its grammatical gender is feminine, even though the singular article is el in el aula to avoid the sequence of two stressed a-sounds. This does not make the noun masculine: el aula grande uses the feminine noun with grande, an adjective that has the same form for masculine and feminine singular nouns. The plural is las aulas. gira is the affirmative tú command of girar, “to turn.” The same written form can also be a present-tense form meaning “he/she turns” or formal “you turn” (usted), but here its command use is clear from the coordinated instruction. Example: Gira a la izquierda. — “Turn left.” a la derecha means “to the right.” In this directional pattern, a introduces the direction, and la derecha names the right-hand side. The contrasting phrase is a la izquierda, “to the left.” Together, Sal del aula means “Go out of the classroom”: del is the contraction of de + el, marking movement out of or away from the classroom. y gira a la derecha adds the next instruction, “and turn right.” The two affirmative tú commands therefore form one sequence: “Go out of the room and turn right.”

5. Creo que puedo encontrarlo.

   I think I can find it.

   Creo

   I think

   puedo

   can

   encontrarlo

   find it

   More detail

   Creo is the first-person singular present form of creer, “to think” or “to believe.” Here it introduces the speaker’s view with Creo que... (“I think that...”); que begins the clause expressing what the speaker thinks. Compare creo with crees (“you think”) and cree (“he, she, or you formal think(s)”). puedo is the first-person singular present form of poder, “can” or “to be able to.” Poder followed by an infinitive expresses ability or possibility: puedo encontrar means “I can find.” The form agrees with the speaker: puedo, while puedes means “you can.” encontrarlo contains the infinitive encontrar, “to find,” plus the attached direct-object pronoun lo, “it” here. The pronoun is masculine singular in form; the translation identifies its meaning only as “it,” without specifying the referent. Spanish can attach a direct-object pronoun to an infinitive: encontrarlo; the same pronoun can also appear before a conjugated verb, as in Lo puedo encontrar. Together, Creo que introduces the speaker’s belief, puedo encontrar expresses the speaker’s ability to find something, and lo identifies that thing as the direct object. The complete meaning is “I think I can find it.”

6. Esperaré aquí antes de que la clase empiece otra vez.

   I will wait here before class starts again.

   Esperaré

   I will wait

   aquí

   here

   antes de que

   before ...

   clase

   class

   empiece

   starts

   otra vez

   again

   More detail

   Esperaré is the first-person singular future of esperar, “to wait”: esperar → esperaré (“I will wait”). The ending -é identifies “I” in this future form. Example: Esperaré afuera. — “I will wait outside.” aquí means “here,” referring to the speaker’s location. It is an adverb, so it does not change for gender or number. Example: Trabajo aquí. — “I work here.” antes de que introduces an event that happens earlier than another event: “before …”. In Spanish, this expression is followed by a clause, and the verb in that clause commonly takes the subjunctive when the event is viewed as pending or not yet completed. Example: Saldré antes de que llueva. — “I will leave before it rains.” clase is a feminine singular noun meaning “class” or “lesson.” Its plural is clases. In this utterance, la clase means “class”; the article la marks the noun as feminine singular. Example: La clase empieza a las nueve. — “The class starts at nine.” empiece is the third-person singular present subjunctive of empezar, “to start” or “to begin.” It agrees with the singular subject la clase. The spelling changes from z to c before e: empezar → empiece. Example: Es posible que la película empiece tarde. — “It is possible that the film starts late.” otra vez is a reusable expression meaning “again” or “once more.” Here it modifies empiece, so the class starts again. Example: Lo intentaré otra vez. — “I will try again.” Together, Esperaré aquí means “I will wait here.” antes de que la clase empiece otra vez adds the time relation: the waiting will occur before the class starts again. The complete utterance therefore means “I will wait here before class starts again.”