Checking a Room Before Use | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Está lista la sala?

   Is the room ready?

   Está

   is

   lista

   ready

   sala

   room

   More detail

   Está is the third-person singular present form of estar, “to be,” expressing a state or condition here. The accent is part of this verb form; esta without the accent is a different word, a feminine singular demonstrative meaning “this.” Here, Está agrees with the singular subject la sala. lista means “ready” here. It is the feminine singular form of the adjective listo, agreeing with feminine singular sala. The masculine form is listo; the plural forms are listos and listas, as in Las salas están listas. — “The rooms are ready.” sala means “room,” especially a room or area with a particular function. It is a feminine singular noun, so it appears with la and requires the feminine adjective form lista in this sentence. Example: La sala está limpia. — “The room is clean.” Together, Está lista asks about a current condition, and la sala identifies what is being described: ¿Está lista la sala? — “Is the room ready?” The question uses the same subject–adjective agreement as a statement, La sala está lista, but the question marks and intonation turn it into a yes-or-no question.

2. Las sillas están en su lugar.

   The chairs are in place.

   sillas

   chairs

   están

   are

   en su lugar

   in place

   More detail

   sillas means “chairs” here. Its singular base form is silla; the final -s marks the plural. It is a feminine noun, so a singular example is La silla está aquí. — “The chair is here.” están is the present-tense form of estar for third-person plural subjects. Here it agrees with Las sillas, so the meaning is “are” in a location or state. Compare está with a singular subject: La silla está aquí. — “The chair is here.” en su lugar means “in place” in this sentence. en introduces the location, and su is a possessive form whose exact owner is not specified here; the fixed translation establishes the intended idiomatic meaning. The reusable pattern is estar en su lugar, as in El libro está en su lugar. — “The book is in its place.” Together, Las sillas is the plural subject, están agrees with it, and en su lugar states the chairs’ location or proper placement. The whole utterance therefore means “The chairs are in place.”

3. ¿Funciona la pantalla?

   Is the screen working?

   Funciona

   works; is working

   pantalla

   screen

   More detail

   Funciona is the third-person singular present form of funcionar, “to work” or “to function.” Here it describes the screen’s current operation. The present can express a current state: La pantalla funciona. — “The screen works/is working.” The same form can also mean “he/she works” when the subject is a person, so the subject determines the interpretation. pantalla means “screen.” It is a feminine singular noun, as shown by la pantalla; its plural is las pantallas. In this sentence it is the subject of funciona, even though it follows the verb. Example: La pantalla está limpia. — “The screen is clean.” Together, ¿Funciona la pantalla? forms a yes-or-no question: “Is the screen working?” Spanish commonly leaves the subject after the verb in questions, and the question marks mark the utterance as a question. The context supports the screen as the thing whose operation is being checked.

4. La imagen se ve clara.

   The picture looks clear.

   imagen

   picture

   se ve

   looks

   clara

   clear

   More detail

   imagen means “picture” here. It is a feminine noun: la imagen is “the picture,” while el dibujo is “the drawing.” The plural is las imágenes (“the pictures”); note the written accent in imágenes. se ve comes from verse, used here in the present tense for a singular subject: “looks” or “appears.” The se is part of this construction, so La imagen se ve clara literally presents the picture as appearing clear. Compare La pantalla se ve clara — “The screen looks clear.” clara describes imagen and therefore is feminine singular. Its base form is claro; the common forms are claro with a masculine singular noun, clara with a feminine singular noun, claros with masculine plural nouns, and claras with feminine plural nouns. Example: Las imágenes se ven claras — “The pictures look clear.” Together, La imagen (“the picture”), se ve (“looks”), and clara (“clear”) produce: “The picture looks clear.”

5. ¿Tenemos marcadores?

   Do we have markers?

   Tenemos

   we have

   marcadores

   markers

   More detail

   Tenemos is the first-person plural present form of tener: tener → tenemos. It means “we have” here, and the verb form itself includes the subject “we,” so Spanish does not need an explicit nosotros. Example: Tenemos tiempo. — “We have time.” Marcadores is the plural of the noun marcador, meaning “markers” here. The plural ending -es is used because the noun refers to more than one item. Example: Hay dos marcadores. — “There are two markers.” Together, ¿Tenemos marcadores? asks whether the speaker and the others have markers. Spanish places the question marks around the utterance; the opening ¿ marks the beginning of the question. The complete meaning is “Do we have markers?”

6. Están sobre la mesa.

   They're on the table.

   Están

   are

   sobre

   on

   mesa

   table

   More detail

   Están is the present-tense form of estar for a plural subject: estoy, estás, está, estamos, están. Here it means “are” in a location statement. Spanish commonly leaves the subject unstated when the context makes it clear; the form itself signals a plural subject, but this sentence does not identify exactly who or what that subject is. Example: Los libros están aquí. — “The books are here.” Sobre is a preposition meaning “on” here. It places something above and in contact with a surface. It can also mean “about” in other contexts, so its meaning comes from the relation expressed in the sentence. mesa is the noun “table.” Its base form is mesa; mesas is the plural. The preceding article la is feminine singular and agrees with mesa: la mesa, “the table.” Together, Están sobre la mesa means “They’re on the table.” The plural form están supplies “are,” and sobre la mesa gives the location. The sentence states the location of an understood plural subject without naming that subject.

7. ¿Hay espacio para moverse?

   Is there space to move around?

   Hay

   there is / there are

   espacio

   space; room

   moverse

   to move around

   More detail

   Hay is the impersonal present form of haber used to say that something exists or is available: hay can mean “there is” or “there are,” and it does not change to agree with the noun that follows. In a question, ¿Hay ...? asks whether something exists or is available. Example: ¿Hay agua? — “Is there water?” Espacio is a masculine noun meaning physical room or space. Here it means enough open room for movement, not an abstract interval or a period of time. Example: Hay espacio aquí. — “There is room here.” Moverse is the infinitive mover with the reflexive pronoun se. In this sentence, it refers to moving oneself around. The related non-reflexive verb mover means to move something: Quiero mover la silla. — “I want to move the chair.” With a person as the mover, moverse is used: Quiero moverme. — “I want to move.” Para moverse uses para plus an infinitive to express what the space is for: “for moving around” or “to move around.” The full pattern is hay + noun + para + infinitive, as in Hay tiempo para descansar. — “There is time to rest.” Together, ¿Hay espacio para moverse? asks whether there is room available for the speaker or others to move around. This matches “Is there space to move around?”

8. Hay suficiente espacio para caminar.

   There's enough room to walk around.

   Hay

   there is / there are

   suficiente

   enough

   espacio

   space; room

   para

   for; to (purpose)

   caminar

   to walk

   More detail

   Hay is the impersonal present form used to say that something exists or is available: “there is” or “there are.” It does not change for singular or plural: hay espacio and hay espacios. The previous question, ¿Hay espacio...?, uses the same form to ask whether space exists. suficiente means “enough” here. It agrees in number with the singular noun espacio; its form is the same with masculine and feminine nouns. With a plural noun, it becomes suficientes: Hay suficientes sillas means “There are enough chairs.” espacio is a masculine noun meaning “space” or “room.” Here it refers generally to available room, so no article appears. A useful contrast is Hay espacio (“There is room”) versus No hay espacio (“There is no room”). para introduces the purpose or use of something. Before an infinitive, the pattern para + infinitive commonly means “to ...” in the sense of purpose or suitability: un lugar para descansar means “a place to rest.” caminar is the infinitive “to walk.” In para caminar, it names the activity for which the space is sufficient. The infinitive does not show a separate person or number here; the sentence simply presents walking as the relevant activity. Together, Hay suficiente espacio says that enough room is available, and para caminar specifies the activity that the room allows. The whole utterance means “There’s enough room to walk around.”