Checking before leaving | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Tenemos todo antes de irnos?

   Do we have everything before we leave?

   Tenemos

   we have

   todo

   everything

   antes de

   before

   irnos

   to leave

   More detail

   Tenemos is the first-person plural present form of tener (“to have”): tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen. Here it asks whether we have something; tenemos means “we have,” unlike tienen, “they have.” The subject is expressed by the verb form. Todo is used here as a standalone pronoun meaning “everything” or “all of it.” It refers to a complete relevant set without naming its individual items. Example: ¿Tienes todo? — “Do you have everything?” Antes de is the reusable pattern “before” followed by an infinitive. It places the infinitive’s action later in the sequence: antes de salir — “before leaving.” The de belongs to this Spanish pattern. Irnos is the infinitive ir (“to go”) with the attached first-person-plural clitic nos. In this context, the reflexive construction irse means “to leave” or “to go away,” and irnos means “to leave” with “we” understood from nos and the sentence context. With a conjugated verb, the same clitic is written separately: nos vamos — “we leave” or “we are leaving.” Without the clitic, ir simply means “to go.” Together, tenemos todo asks whether we have everything, and antes de irnos adds the time relation “before we leave.” The complete question is “Do we have everything before we leave?” A reusable pattern is ¿Tenemos [algo] antes de [infinitive]? — “Do we have [something] before we [do something]?”

2. Revisemos ahora.

   Let's check now.

   Revisemos

   let’s check

   ahora

   now

   More detail

   Revisemos comes from revisar, “to check” or “to review.” The form revisemos is the first-person plural present subjunctive, used here as an affirmative exhortation: “let’s check.” It includes the speaker and the listener(s); it is not the singular command revisa (“check,” addressed to tú). Example: Revisemos la lista. — “Let’s check the list.” Ahora means “now” and places the action at the present moment. It can also occur in other positions, such as Ahora revisemos la lista — “Now let’s check the list.” Together, Revisemos ahora. means “Let’s check now”: the speaker proposes that the speaker and the listener(s) check something at this moment. The object being checked is not stated in this utterance.

3. ¿Tienes tus llaves?

   Do you have your keys?

   Tienes

   do you have

   tus

   your

   llaves

   keys

   More detail

   Tienes is the present-tense form of tener for tú: tú tienes. Here it asks whether the other person possesses or has access to something. In Spanish, a yes/no question can use the same word order as a statement; intonation and the opening and closing question marks make it a question. Example: ¿Tienes tiempo? — “Do you have time?” tus is the plural possessive determiner meaning “your” when the possessed nouns are plural. It agrees with what is possessed, not with the person who possesses it: tu llave — “your key,” but tus llaves — “your keys.” The singular and plural forms are tu and tus; these are different from the accented pronoun tú, meaning “you.” llaves is the plural of the noun llave, “key.” The plural is formed by adding -s because the singular ends in a vowel. In this sentence, the plural noun is why the determiner is tus, not tu. Example: Necesito dos llaves. — “I need two keys.” Together, tienes tus llaves means “you have your keys,” and the question marks turn it into the yes/no question “Do you have your keys?”

4. Están en mi bolsillo.

   They're in my pocket.

   Están

   are

   en

   in

   mi

   my

   bolsillo

   pocket

   More detail

   Están is a form of estar, used here for a location: “are located.” Its ending -án marks third-person plural in the present tense, so the understood subject is plural. Compare está for a singular subject: La cartera está en el bolso. — “The wallet is in the bag.” en is the preposition for location inside or within something. The pattern estar en + place is reusable: Estamos en casa. — “We are at home.” mi means “my” before a singular noun. It does not change for masculine or feminine nouns: mi bolsillo and mi cartera; with a plural noun, it becomes mis: mis llaves — “my keys.” bolsillo means “pocket.” It is a masculine singular noun, as shown by el bolsillo; its plural is bolsillos. A useful contrast is bolso, “bag,” which is a different noun: La cartera está en mi bolso. — “The wallet is in my bag.” Together, están en expresses being located in a place, and mi bolsillo identifies that place as the speaker’s pocket. The complete utterance means “They’re in my pocket.”

5. ¿Está tu cartera en tu bolso?

   Is your wallet in your bag?

   Está

   is located

   cartera

   wallet

   bolso

   bag

   More detail

   Está is the third-person singular present form of estar, used here to ask about a location: “is located.” The base form is estar; compare están, the plural form seen in the contextual sentence “They are in my pocket.” A useful example is El libro está en la mesa. — “The book is on the table.” cartera means “wallet” here. It is a feminine singular noun, so a matching definite article would be la: la cartera. In another context, cartera can refer to a handbag or briefcase, but the fixed translation identifies the intended meaning here as “wallet.” Example: Mi cartera está aquí. — “My wallet is here.” bolso means “bag” here. It is a masculine singular noun, so a matching definite article would be el: el bolso. The related plural form is bolsos: Los bolsos están allí. — “The bags are over there.” The two occurrences of tu are the possessive determiner “your.” Tu does not change for the gender of the noun: tu cartera and tu bolso. It is different from tú, the subject pronoun “you,” which carries an accent mark. The reusable pattern is ¿Está [possessive] [singular noun] en [possessive] [singular noun]? The preposition en expresses location “in” here. Thus ¿Está tu cartera en tu bolso? asks whether the listener’s wallet is inside the listener’s bag. The complete meaning is: “Is your wallet in your bag?”

6. La puse ahí.

   I put it in there.

   La

   it (feminine)

   puse

   put

   ahí

   there

   More detail

   La is a feminine singular direct-object pronoun. Here it means “it,” with the feminine form showing the grammatical gender and singular number of the understood object; the supplied sentence does not uniquely identify that object by name. Spanish object pronouns agree with the noun they replace: lo for a masculine singular object, la for a feminine singular object, los and las for plural objects. In this sentence, la is placed before the conjugated verb. puse is the first-person singular preterite of poner, “to put/place”: yo puse = “I put.” This form identifies the speaker as the actor and presents the placing as completed. It does not change for the gender of the object. Example: Puse el libro aquí. = “I put the book here.” ahí means “there,” referring to a place understood in the situation. It is a location adverb. In many contexts, ahí points to a place near the listener or to a place already made salient; the exact distance is determined by context, so it is not interchangeable with a rigid distance rule for every variety of Spanish. Together, La puse ahí follows the pattern [direct-object pronoun] + [first-person completed form of poner] + [location]: “I put it there.” The pronoun la supplies the feminine object reference, puse says that the speaker placed it, and ahí gives the location.

7. ¿Está la puerta cerrada con llave?

   Is the door locked?

   Está

   is

   puerta

   door

   cerrada

   closed

   con llave

   with a key

   More detail

   Está is the third-person singular present form of estar, used here to ask about a current state. Its subject is la puerta, so the singular form is appropriate. Estar commonly describes a state or condition: La puerta está abierta. = “The door is open.” puerta means “door.” It is a feminine singular noun, which is why the noun phrase uses la and the agreeing form cerrada: la puerta cerrada. cerrada means “closed” here. It is the feminine singular form of cerrado, agreeing with puerta. By itself, it describes the door as closed, not necessarily locked: La puerta está cerrada. = “The door is closed.” con llave means “with a key.” With estar cerrada, it specifies that the door is secured with a key, giving the intended meaning “locked.” con means “with,” and llave means “key.” Example: La caja está cerrada con llave. = “The box is locked.” Together, Está la puerta cerrada con llave? asks whether the door is currently locked: “Is the door locked?” Spanish can use the same word order as a statement in a question; the opening and closing question marks and intonation mark it as a question. Here, la is the feminine singular article belonging to puerta, not a separate object pronoun.

8. La revisé hace un momento.

   I checked it just now.

   La

   it (feminine direct object)

   revisé

   checked

   hace un momento

   just now

   More detail

   La is the feminine singular direct-object clitic. Here it refers to the door from the preceding question, so La revisé means “I checked it,” with the feminine form matching la puerta. The clitic is placed before the conjugated verb. Compare lo revisé for a masculine singular direct object, such as el formulario; these forms mark the object, not the person doing the checking. revisé is the first-person singular preterite of revisar: revisar → revisé. The ending -é identifies an action completed by “I” in the past. Example: Revisé el formulario. — “I checked the form.” hace un momento is a time expression meaning “a moment ago” or “just now.” In this expression, hace is the third-person singular present form of hacer, used with elapsed time. The pattern hace + [amount of time] places an event that long before the present: Hace dos horas. — “Two hours ago.” Together, La + revisé gives “I checked it,” and hace un momento specifies that the completed checking happened very recently: “I checked it just now.”