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Sentence explanations

1. ¿Qué significa esta palabra?

   What does this word mean?

   Qué

   what

   significa

   means

   esta

   this

   palabra

   word

   More detail

   Qué is the accented interrogative form meaning “what” in a direct question. The accent distinguishes it from que, which commonly introduces a clause or connects words without asking “what.” significa is the third-person singular present form of significar, “to mean” or “to signify.” In this question, the subject is esta palabra, so the verb is singular: ¿Qué significa esta palabra? A useful pattern is ¿Qué significa X? — “What does X mean?” esta is the feminine singular demonstrative meaning “this.” It agrees with the noun it modifies, palabra, which is feminine and singular. The corresponding masculine singular form is este, as in este término (“this term”). palabra means “word.” It is a feminine noun, so it combines with esta: esta palabra (“this word”). Its plural is palabras; for example, estas palabras means “these words.” Together, ¿Qué significa asks for the meaning of something, and esta palabra identifies that thing as “this word.” The complete utterance means “What does this word mean?”

2. Significa una habitación pequeña.

   It means a small room.

   Significa

   means

   habitación

   room

   pequeña

   small

   More detail

   Significa comes from significar (“to mean”) and is the present-tense third-person singular form: “it means” or “he/she means,” depending on the subject. Here, the understood subject is “it,” referring to the thing being explained. Example: Esta palabra significa “casa”. — “This word means ‘house.’” habitación is a feminine singular noun meaning “room.” Its article and modifiers must agree with it: una habitación, la habitación, habitaciones (plural). In this sentence, una introduces a room without by itself asserting a numerical count. pequeña is the feminine singular form of the adjective pequeño (“small”). It matches habitación in gender and number. The masculine singular form is pequeño; plural forms include pequeños and pequeñas. Example: Es una casa pequeña. — “It is a small house.” Together, Significa una habitación pequeña says that the referenced word or expression means “a small room.” The adjective pequeña describes the noun habitación, and significa connects that meaning to the understood subject. In the supplied context, this is an explanation of the preceding question about what a word means.

3. ¿Puedes pronunciarla despacio?

   Can you pronounce it slowly?

   ¿Puedes

   Can you

   pronunciarla

   pronounce it

   despacio

   slowly

   More detail

   ¿Puedes uses puedes, the second-person singular present form of poder (“can/be able to”). With an infinitive, poder + infinitive asks whether someone is able or willing to do something: ¿Puedes repetirlo? = “Can you repeat it?” The form addresses one person informally as tú; it is not the formal usted form. pronunciarla combines the infinitive pronunciar (“to pronounce”) with the attached direct-object clitic la. The clitic is feminine singular, so it replaces a feminine singular object; the exact referent is not uniquely identified by the supplied sentence. Spanish can attach a direct-object clitic to an infinitive: pronunciarla. With a masculine singular object, the corresponding form is pronunciarlo, as in ¿Puedes pronunciarlo despacio? = “Can you pronounce it slowly?” despacio is an adverb meaning “slowly” here. It describes how the pronunciation should be carried out. It can also be used in a simple instruction such as Habla despacio = “Speak slowly.” Together, ¿Puedes asks about the listener’s ability or willingness, pronunciarla names the action and its feminine singular direct object, and despacio specifies the manner. The complete utterance means: “Can you pronounce it slowly?”

4. La voy a dividir en partes.

   I'll break it into parts.

   La

   it

   voy a

   am going to

   dividir

   divide; split

   partes

   parts

   More detail

   La is a feminine singular direct-object clitic. Here it means “it,” referring to something feminine in Spanish, but the supplied sentence does not identify exactly what that thing is. Its form is la; compare lo for a masculine singular object and las/los for plural objects. In this sentence, la is placed before the conjugated verb phrase. Example: La voy a leer. — “I’m going to read it.” voy a is the first-person singular form of ir (“to go”) followed by a. With an infinitive, ir a + infinitive expresses a planned or imminent action: “be going to do.” voy is the present form of ir for yo; the subject “I” is understood from this form. The object clitic can appear before the conjugated verb, as here, or attached to the infinitive: La voy a dividir / Voy a dividirla. dividir is an infinitive meaning “to divide” or “to split.” Its useful forms include divido (“I divide”), dividí (“I divided”), and dividiré (“I will divide”). The infinitive after voy a names the planned action. Example: Voy a dividir la tarea en dos partes. — “I’m going to divide the task into two parts.” partes is the plural of parte, “part.” The plural ending -s indicates more than one part; the sentence therefore presents the result as division into parts, without specifying how many. parte is feminine: una parte, dos partes. Together, La voy a dividir en partes means “I’ll break it into parts.” The structure is la + voy a + infinitive + en + plural noun: the speaker plans to divide the feminine singular object into multiple parts. The wording is suitable for a straightforward explanation or organization of material.

5. ¿Puedes darme un ejemplo?

   Can you give me an example?

   Puedes

   can you

   darme

   give me

   ejemplo

   example

   More detail

   Puedes is the second-person singular present form of poder (“to be able to/can”): tú puedes. In this question, it asks whether the listener is able or willing to do something. It is not an affirmative command; the question form makes it a request. Compare puedo (“I can”) and puedes (“you can”). Darme combines the infinitive dar (“to give”) with the attached pronoun me (“to me”): dar + me → darme. After a form such as puedes, Spanish uses the infinitive, so puedes darme means “you can give me.” The pronoun identifies the recipient of the giving. Example: ¿Puedes ayudarme? — “Can you help me?” Ejemplo is a masculine singular noun meaning “example.” The indefinite article appears before it in the full sentence: un ejemplo, “an example.” Its plural is ejemplos: dos ejemplos, “two examples.” Together, ¿Puedes + darme + un ejemplo? forms the reusable question pattern ¿Puedes + infinitive + me + noun? Here it means “Can you give me an example?” The question requests an example from the listener without asserting that the listener will provide one.

6. Esta habitación está limpia y luminosa.

   This room is clean and bright.

   Esta

   this

   habitación

   room

   está

   is

   limpia

   clean

   luminosa

   bright

   More detail

   Esta means “this” here and is the feminine singular demonstrative, matching habitación. Spanish demonstratives agree with the noun they point to: este for masculine singular, esta for feminine singular, and plural forms such as estos and estas. Example: Esta casa es grande. — “This house is big.” habitación means “room.” It is a feminine noun, as shown by the article and adjectives that can agree with it: la habitación, una habitación. The related word cuarto can also mean “room” in some contexts, but it is masculine: el cuarto. está is the third-person singular present form of estar, “to be.” Spanish uses estar here for a current condition or state. Its subject is the singular noun habitación; está is not an inflection of the noun or of either adjective. A useful present-tense contrast is estoy (“I am”), estás (“you are”), está (“he/she/it is”), and están (“they are”). Example: La puerta está abierta. — “The door is open.” limpia means “clean” in this sentence. It is the feminine singular form of the adjective limpio, agreeing with habitación. The masculine singular form is limpio, and plural forms are limpios and limpias, according to the noun they describe. Example: El escritorio está limpio. — “The desk is clean.” luminosa means “bright” or “well lit” here. It is the feminine singular form of luminoso, again agreeing with habitación; the masculine singular form is luminoso. The adjective describes the room’s quality, while está presents that quality as its current state. Example: La sala está luminosa. — “The living room is bright.” Together, Esta habitación identifies one specific room as “this room.” está limpia y luminosa uses estar plus two coordinated feminine singular adjectives: “is clean and bright.” Thus the complete utterance is “This room is clean and bright.”

7. Quiero practicar cómo usarla.

   I want to practice using it.

   Quiero

   I want

   practicar

   to practice

   cómo

   how

   usarla

   to use it

   More detail

   Quiero is the first-person singular present form of querer, “to want.” It means “I want” here because the speaker is the subject. A useful pattern is quiero + infinitive: Quiero descansar. = “I want to rest.” practicar is the infinitive “to practice.” After quiero, the following verb stays in the infinitive because the same speaker wants to do that action. Quiero practicar español. = “I want to practice Spanish.” cómo means “how” and introduces a question about the way an action is done. Its accent mark distinguishes this question word from the conjunction como, which has other uses. In cómo usarla, it asks about the method of using something. usarla is the infinitive usar (“to use”) with the direct-object pronoun la attached: usar + la = usarla. The infinitive remains usar; la is feminine singular and refers to the object being used, but the supplied sentence does not identify that object by name. With a masculine singular object, the corresponding form would be usarlo. Together, quiero practicar means “I want to practice,” and cómo usarla specifies what the practice concerns: how to use it. The complete utterance means “I want to practice using it.”

8. Intenta usarla en una oración corta.

   Try it in a short sentence.

   Intenta

   Try

   usarla

   use it

   oración

   sentence

   corta

   short

   More detail

   Intenta is the affirmative tú command of intentar (“to try”): “Try …”. The form addresses one person informally. A reusable pattern is intenta + infinitive, as in Intenta leerlo. (“Try to read it.”) usarla combines the infinitive usar (“to use”) with the direct-object clitic la (“it/her”). In this utterance, la refers to the item already being practiced in the preceding context; its feminine singular form agrees with that object, but the supplied text does not name the object. Spanish attaches this clitic to an infinitive: usar + la → usarla. Compare usarlo when the direct object is masculine singular. oración means “sentence” here. It is a feminine singular noun, so the related adjective takes the feminine singular form in oración corta. For example, Escribe una oración. means “Write a sentence.” corta means “short” here and describes oración. It is the feminine singular form of corto; the masculine singular form is corto, as in un texto corto. The adjective agrees with the noun it describes. Together, Intenta usarla gives “Try to use it,” and en una oración corta specifies using it “in a short sentence.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Try it in a short sentence.”