Checking a Bag Before Leaving | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Podemos comprobar que mi bolsa está lista?

   Can we make sure my bag is ready?

   Podemos

   can we

   comprobar

   check; make sure

   mi

   my

   bolsa

   bag

   está

   is

   lista

   ready

   More detail

   Podemos is the first-person plural present form of poder: podemos means “we can” or, in a question, “can we…?”. It refers to the speaker together with at least one other person; it is not the singular “can I?”. Example: ¿Podemos entrar? — “Can we come in?” Comprobar is an infinitive meaning “to check” or “to make sure.” After a conjugated form of poder, Spanish uses the infinitive: podemos comprobar = “we can check.” Example: Puedes comprobar la fecha. — “You can check the date.” Mi is the singular possessive meaning “my.” It agrees with the possessed noun in number, not with the owner’s gender: mi bolsa is singular, while mis bolsas is plural; mi does not change to a masculine or feminine form. Example: mi libro — “my book”; mi llave — “my key.” Bolsa is a feminine noun meaning “bag” here. Its plural is bolsas. The feminine form matters for the adjective that describes it later in the sentence. Está is the third-person singular present form of estar, “to be,” used here for the bag’s current state. Estar commonly describes a temporary condition or state, while ser is used for identity or more inherent descriptions; this sentence presents being ready as a state. Example: La puerta está abierta. — “The door is open.” Lista is the feminine singular form of the adjective listo, meaning “ready” here. It agrees with bolsa, which is feminine singular: bolsa lista. The masculine singular form is listo, and plural forms include listas and listos according to the noun being described. Example: El formulario está listo. — “The form is ready.” Together, ¿Podemos comprobar que... ? asks whether “we” can check or make sure that something is the case. The clause mi bolsa está lista says that “my bag is ready”: mi identifies the bag as belonging to the speaker, and está lista describes its current ready state. Thus the whole utterance means, “Can we make sure my bag is ready?”

2. Pon primero las cosas importantes sobre la mesa.

   Put the important things on the table first.

   Pon

   put

   primero

   first

   cosas

   things

   importantes

   important

   sobre

   on; over

   mesa

   table

   More detail

   Pon is the affirmative command form of poner for tú singular. Here it means “put.” The command addresses one person informally. Example: Pon el libro aquí. — “Put the book here.” primero is an adverb meaning “first.” It indicates the order of the action: put them first, before other things. Example: Lee primero las instrucciones. — “Read the instructions first.” cosas is the plural of cosa, “thing.” The plural ending -s shows that more than one thing is meant. Example: Guarda tus cosas. — “Put your things away.” importantes is the plural form of importante, “important.” It describes cosas, so it agrees with that noun in number; importante has the same form for masculine and feminine singular, and importantes for plural. Example: Son documentos importantes. — “They are important documents.” sobre is a preposition. In sobre la mesa, it means “on,” indicating the surface where something is placed. In other contexts it can also mean “about” or “over,” but “on” is the relevant meaning here. Example: El libro está sobre la mesa. — “The book is on the table.” mesa is a feminine singular noun meaning “table.” With the article, la mesa means “the table.” Example: La mesa está limpia. — “The table is clean.” Together, Pon supplies the command, primero gives its order, las cosas importantes identifies the things to be placed, and sobre la mesa identifies the surface. The complete meaning is: “Put the important things on the table first.”

3. Mi teléfono está en el bolsillo delantero.

   My phone is in the front pocket.

   Mi

   my

   teléfono

   phone

   está

   is located

   bolsillo

   pocket

   delantero

   front

   More detail

   Mi means “my” here. It is a possessive determiner before the noun. Mi is used with a singular noun for both grammatical genders; the plural form is mis: mi teléfono, mis llaves. teléfono is the noun “phone.” Its plural is teléfonos. In this sentence, teléfono is masculine singular, but that gender does not determine the form of delantero: delantero modifies bolsillo. está is the third-person singular present form of estar. Estar is used here for a location or temporary state: El libro está aquí means “The book is here.” This contrasts with es, a form of ser, which is not the normal choice for saying where something is located. bolsillo means “pocket.” It is a masculine noun: el bolsillo; its plural is los bolsillos. delantero means “front” in this noun-modifying use. It is the masculine singular form of the adjective delantero, agreeing with bolsillo: el bolsillo delantero. With a feminine singular noun, the form is delantera, as in la puerta delantera (“the front door”); the plural forms are delanteros and delanteras. The pattern estar en + place expresses location. Here, en el bolsillo means “in the pocket,” and delantero specifies which pocket. Together, Mi teléfono está en el bolsillo delantero. means “My phone is in the front pocket.”

4. ¿Dónde pusiste tus llaves?

   Where did you put your keys?

   ¿Dónde

   where

   pusiste

   you put

   tus

   your

   llaves

   keys

   More detail

   ¿Dónde asks for a location: “where”. The accent mark distinguishes the interrogative form dónde from the non-interrogative form donde used in contexts such as “where”. Example: ¿Dónde está la estación? — “Where is the station?” pusiste means “you put” here. It is the preterite form of poner for tú singular: puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron. The irregular past stem is pus-; this is a completed past placement, not the present form pones (“you put / you place”). Example: Pusiste el libro en la mesa. — “You put the book on the table.” tus is the possessive determiner meaning “your” for one person addressed as tú. It is plural here because it modifies llaves; it does not mark the gender of the owner, and tus itself does not change for the noun’s gender. Its singular counterpart is tu, as in tu llave (“your key”). llaves means “keys” here. It is the plural of the feminine noun llave (“key”): una llave / dos llaves. The plural ending -s agrees with tus; the noun’s grammatical gender is feminine, but that gender is not shown in the form llaves itself. Together, ¿Dónde + pusiste asks for the location, while tus llaves identifies the object as the addressee’s keys. The whole utterance means “Where did you put your keys?”

5. Están al lado de mi teléfono.

   They are next to my phone.

   Están

   are

   al lado de

   next to

   teléfono

   phone

   More detail

   Están is a form of estar, used here for the present location of a plural subject: “are.” The ending -án marks third-person plural in this form. Spanish commonly uses estar for location: Las llaves están aquí. — “The keys are here.” This form does not identify the subject by itself; here, they refers to the plural items understood from the exchange. al lado de is a reusable location pattern meaning “next to” or “beside.” It is followed by the reference point: El bolso está al lado de la silla. — “The bag is next to the chair.” The whole pattern, rather than just lado, expresses the spatial relation. teléfono means “phone.” Its plural is teléfonos; the written accent remains: dos teléfonos — “two phones.” In the utterance, mi teléfono means “my phone”: mi is the singular possessive form used with one possessed item. Together, Están + al lado de + mi teléfono gives the reusable pattern X está/están al lado de Y: “X is/are next to Y.” The complete utterance means “They are next to my phone.”

6. ¿También necesitas tu botella de agua?

   Do you also need your water bottle?

   También

   also

   necesitas

   need

   tu

   your

   botella

   bottle

   agua

   water

   More detail

   También adds the meaning “also” to the question: the speaker is asking whether this need applies in addition to something already under discussion. It does not replace or exclude another item. necesitas comes from necesitar (“to need”). It is the present-tense form for tú, so the question addresses one person informally. Compare necesito (“I need”) and necesita (“he/she needs” or formal “you need”). tu is the possessive form meaning “your” for one person. It has no accent here; tú with an accent is the pronoun “you.” Possessives agree with the thing possessed in number, not with the owner: tu botella is singular, while tus botellas is plural. botella means “bottle.” It is a feminine noun, as shown by forms such as una botella and la botella. In botella de agua, de links the container to what it contains or is intended for: “water bottle.” agua means “water.” Although it is feminine, singular agua commonly takes el rather than la because of its stressed initial a: el agua. Its feminine gender appears with other agreement, such as agua fría (“cold water”) and plural las aguas. Together, tu botella de agua means “your water bottle.” The question pattern ¿También necesitas ...? asks whether the person also needs the named item. Thus the complete utterance means, “Do you also need your water bottle?”

7. Sí, ya está en el bolsillo principal.

   Yes, it is already in the main pocket.

   Sí

   yes

   ya está

   is already

   bolsillo

   pocket

   principal

   main

   More detail

   Sí is an affirmative response meaning “yes.” It confirms the preceding question rather than adding a new object or action. ya está combines ya (“already”) with está, the third-person singular present form of estar (“to be”). Estar is used here for location: something is already in a place. Other present forms include estoy (“I am”), estás (“you are,” singular informal), and están (“they are” or “you are,” plural). The subject is not repeated in the sentence; the fixed translation supplies “it.” bolsillo means “pocket.” It is a masculine singular noun; its plural is bolsillos. The phrase en el bolsillo means “in the pocket,” with en expressing location and el agreeing with the masculine singular noun. principal means “main” here. It describes bolsillo, so it appears after the noun and agrees with it in number: el bolsillo principal (“the main pocket”). Principal has the same form for masculine and feminine singular nouns; its plural is principales, as in los bolsillos principales (“the main pockets”). Together, Sí, ya está en el bolsillo principal. means “Yes, it is already in the main pocket.” The structure is: affirmation + already-being + location. The sentence confirms that the relevant item is currently located in the main pocket.

8. Entonces tienes lo que necesitas.

   Then you have what you need.

   Entonces

   Then

   tienes

   you have

   lo que

   what

   necesitas

   you need

   More detail

   Entonces means “then” here and links this sentence to what was just established. It can also mean “so” when it marks a conclusion. Example: Entonces, empezamos. — “Then, we’ll start.” tienes is the present-tense second-person singular form of tener, “to have”: yo tengo, tú tienes, él/ella tiene. The stem changes from ten- to tien- in several present-tense forms; this is an inflection of tener, not of a neighboring noun. Here it means that the addressed person has or possesses something. lo que is a reusable Spanish construction meaning “what” or “that which.” In this use, lo is the neuter article and que introduces the relative clause; the construction refers to an unspecified thing or content rather than marking masculine or feminine agreement with a named noun. Example: Lo que dices es importante. — “What you say is important.” necesitas is the present-tense second-person singular form of necesitar, “to need”: yo necesito, tú necesitas, él/ella necesita. The ending -as identifies the present-tense tú form of this regular -ar verb. Its understood object here is supplied by lo que: the person needs “what” the clause refers to. Together, tienes lo que necesitas means “you have what you need.” Adding Entonces gives the complete meaning: “Then you have what you need.”