Checking a table-setting list | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Miremos la lista.

   Let's look at the list.

   Miremos

   let’s look

   lista

   list

   More detail

   Miremos comes from mirar (“to look”). Here it is the first-person plural form used for an affirmative suggestion or command: “let’s look.” The ending -emos marks “we” in this use; it addresses the speaker and at least one other person. For comparison, mira means “look” to one tú,” while miren addresses ustedes`. lista means “list.” It is a feminine singular noun, so the article is la: la lista = “the list.” The article does not add a separate quantity meaning here; it identifies the list intended in the sentence. Together, Miremos la lista means “Let’s look at the list.” The speaker proposes that the speaker and the listener(s) examine the list together.

2. La tengo aquí.

   I have it here.

   La

   it

   tengo

   have

   aquí

   here

   More detail

   La is a feminine singular direct-object pronoun. Here it means “it,” but the supplied sentence does not uniquely identify which feminine singular noun it refers to. Spanish places this object pronoun before a conjugated verb: la tengo = “I have it.” A masculine singular object uses lo, as in Lo tengo aquí = “I have it here.” tengo is the first-person singular present form of tener (“to have”): yo tengo. The verb form shows who has the object, so an expressed subject pronoun is optional. Example: Tengo la llave = “I have the key.” aquí is an adverb meaning “here,” specifying the relevant location. Together, La identifies the object grammatically, tengo expresses that the speaker has it, and aquí gives its location: “I have it here.”

3. ¿Están listas las tazas?

   Are the cups ready?

   Están

   are

   listas

   ready

   tazas

   cups

   More detail

   Están is the third-person plural present form of estar, “to be,” used here for a current state. Its plural form agrees with the plural subject las tazas; está would be used with a singular subject. Example: Las tazas están aquí. — “The cups are here.” listas means “ready” here. It is the feminine plural form of the adjective listo; it agrees with the feminine plural noun tazas. The masculine forms are listo and listos, while the feminine singular form is lista. Example: La mesa está lista. — “The table is ready.” tazas is the plural of the feminine noun taza, “cup.” The article and adjective in this sentence also show its feminine plural agreement: las tazas listas. Together, estar + listas describes the cups’ present state: ¿Están listas las tazas? means “Are the cups ready?” The question asks about the cups, and the plural feminine forms agree with them.

4. Las lavé todas.

   I washed them all.

   Las

   them (feminine plural direct object)

   lavé

   I washed

   todas

   all of them (feminine plural)

   More detail

   Las is a feminine plural direct-object pronoun. Here it refers to the cups mentioned in the preceding question, so las means “them” without repeating las tazas. The plural and feminine form agree with that object. Compare lo for one masculine object, la for one feminine object, and los for masculine plural objects. lavé is the first-person singular preterite of lavar (“to wash”): lavar → lavé (“I washed”). The ending -é identifies a completed past action by “I”; Spanish can omit the subject pronoun because the verb form supplies it. Example: Lavé los platos. — “I washed the dishes.” Todas is the feminine plural form of todo, used here to mean “all of them.” It agrees with the feminine plural object represented by las and emphasizes that none of those objects was left out. Compare todos with masculine plural or mixed-gender plural referents, and toda with a singular feminine referent. Example: Las limpié todas. — “I cleaned them all.” Together, las identifies the feminine plural objects, lavé says that I washed them in the completed past, and todas adds “all.” The whole utterance therefore means “I washed them all.”

5. ¿Falta algo?

   Is anything missing?

   Falta

   is missing

   algo

   anything

   More detail

   Falta comes from faltar. Here it means “is missing” or “is lacking.” It is the third-person singular present form, agreeing with singular algo (“something/anything”), which is the thing that may be missing. With a plural subject, use faltan: Faltan dos cucharas. — “Two spoons are missing.” Algo is an indefinite pronoun. In an affirmative statement it commonly means “something”; in this question, it means “anything.” It does not identify a particular object. Example: ¿Falta algo más? — “Is anything else missing?” Together, Falta algo literally has the structure “something is missing.” The opening and closing question marks turn it into a question: ¿Falta algo? — “Is anything missing?”

6. Todavía necesitamos una cuchara.

   We still need one spoon.

   Todavía

   still

   necesitamos

   need

   cuchara

   spoon

   More detail

   Todavía means “still” here: it shows that the need continues at the relevant time. It commonly appears before the verb, as in Todavía trabajo (“I still work”). Its opposite in this time-related use is ya (“already”): Ya tenemos una cuchara means “We already have a spoon.” necesitamos means “we need” here. It is the present-tense form of necesitar for nosotros/nosotras; the subject is understood from the verb, so Spanish does not need an explicit subject pronoun. The same form can also mean “we need” in a current or generally relevant situation. Example: Necesitamos agua — “We need water.” cuchara means “spoon.” It is a feminine singular noun, so the accompanying indefinite article is una: una cuchara. The article marks singular feminine agreement; the fixed translation explicitly conveys one spoon, but the article itself is primarily the form that agrees with the noun. The plural is cucharas, as in dos cucharas — “two spoons.” Together, Todavía necesitamos una cuchara means “We still need one spoon.” Todavía adds the continuing situation, necesitamos supplies the understood “we need,” and una cuchara names the singular feminine item needed.

7. Puedo conseguir otra.

   I can get another one.

   Puedo

   I can

   conseguir

   get

   otra

   another one

   More detail

   Puedo is the first-person singular present form of poder, “to be able to” or “can.” It expresses the speaker’s ability or possibility here: “I can.” The related forms are puedes (“you can”) and puede (“he, she, or you formal can”), but the ending and stem in puedo identify the speaker as yo. Example: Puedo ayudar. — “I can help.” conseguir is an infinitive meaning “to get,” “to obtain,” or “to manage to get.” After a conjugated form of poder, Spanish uses the infinitive: puedo conseguir means “I can get,” with puedo carrying the person and tense while conseguir names the action. Example: No puedo conseguir entradas. — “I can’t get tickets.” otra means “another one” here. It is the feminine singular form of otro and functions without an expressed noun; the omitted noun is understood from context. In the supplied context, the earlier mention of una cuchara supports understanding it as another spoon. Its form agrees with that understood feminine singular noun: otro for a masculine singular noun, otras for feminine plural, and otros for masculine plural or a mixed masculine plural group. Example: Necesito otra. — “I need another one.” Together, Puedo conseguir otra means “I can get another one.” Puedo expresses the speaker’s ability, conseguir gives the action that the speaker can carry out, and otra identifies an additional feminine singular item understood from the context. The sentence does not repeat the item’s noun because Spanish can use the agreeing form otra on its own when the intended noun is clear.

8. Entonces, la mesa está puesta.

   Then the table is set.

   Entonces

   Then

   mesa

   table

   está puesta

   is set

   More detail

   Entonces means “then” here, linking this statement to what came before. It can also introduce a conclusion: Entonces, vamos. means “Then, let’s go.” mesa means “table.” It is a feminine singular noun, so related forms agree with it: la mesa (“the table”) and mesas (“tables”). The article la identifies the noun as feminine singular; it does not by itself indicate a quantity beyond the singular form of the noun. está puesta describes the table’s resulting state. está is the third-person singular present form of estar, used here because la mesa is singular. estar is used for a state or condition, while ser is used in different contexts for identity or more inherent classification. Puesta is the feminine singular form of the irregular past participle puesto, from poner (“to put”): puesto with a masculine singular noun, puesta with a feminine singular noun, puestos for masculine or mixed plural, and puestas for feminine plural. In this sentence, puesta agrees with mesa; it does not mean that the table itself performed the action. Together, la mesa está puesta means “the table is set”: the table is in the state of having been arranged or prepared. Entonces places that statement as a conclusion or subsequent point, giving the complete meaning “Then, the table is set.”