Checking items in a bag | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Puedes ayudarme a revisar mi bolsa?

   Can you help me check my bag?

   Puedes

   can you

   ayudarme

   help me

   revisar

   check

   mi

   my

   bolsa

   bag

   More detail

   Puedes is the second-person singular form of poder in the present tense. Here it asks whether one person can or is willing to do something: ¿Puedes venir? = “Can you come?” Do not treat this form as addressing several people; the plural form is pueden. ayudarme combines the infinitive ayudar (“to help”) with the object pronoun me (“me”). In Spanish, a pronoun can attach to an infinitive, so ayudar + me becomes ayudarme. The pronoun marks the person receiving the help, while the following infinitive supplies the action: ¿Puedes ayudarme? = “Can you help me?” revisar is an infinitive meaning “to check” or “to look through.” It follows ayudarme because Spanish commonly uses ayudar a alguien a + infinitive: Me ayudas a revisar esto = “You help me check this.” In this sentence, revisar is the action the speaker wants help with. mi is the singular possessive determiner meaning “my.” It agrees in number with the thing possessed, not in gender: mi bolsa is singular, while mis bolsas is plural. The masculine and feminine singular forms are both mi. bolsa is a feminine noun meaning “bag.” Its plural is bolsas; the article or adjective around it can show its grammatical gender and number, as in la bolsa (“the bag”) and las bolsas (“the bags”). Together, ¿Puedes ayudarme a revisar mi bolsa? asks one person whether they can help the speaker check the speaker’s bag. The structure is ¿Puedes ayudarme a + infinitive + possessive noun?: “Can you help me [do something]?”

2. Puedo revisar la bolsa contigo.

   I can look through it with you.

   Puedo

   can

   revisar

   check; look through

   la bolsa

   the bag

   contigo

   with you

   More detail

   Puedo is the first-person singular present form of poder (“to be able to; can”). It expresses the speaker’s ability or willingness here: “I can.” The pattern puedo + infinitive is reusable: Puedo esperar. — “I can wait.” revisar is an infinitive meaning “to check” or “to look through.” After puedo, the second verb stays in the infinitive: puedo revisar, not a second personally conjugated verb. In this utterance, it means looking through the bag to check its contents. la bolsa means “the bag.” Bolsa is a feminine singular noun, so the definite article is la; the plural is las bolsas. The article marks the noun as a specific bag in this context, supported by the preceding request about mi bolsa and the fixed translation’s “it.” Contigo means “with you.” It is the fused form of con + tú, used for one person addressed informally. Compare con usted for “with you” when using the formal usted pronoun. The form contigo does not identify the bag or another noun; it identifies the person accompanying the speaker. Together, puedo revisar la bolsa means “I can look through the bag,” and contigo adds “with you.” The complete utterance is therefore: “I can look through it with you.” The English pronoun “it” refers to the bag in the supplied translation and context.

3. ¿Ves si falta algo?

   Do you see anything missing?

   Ves

   see

   si

   whether

   falta

   is missing

   algo

   anything

   More detail

   Ves is the present-tense form of ver for tú: tú ves = “you see.” In this question, it asks about the other person’s visual checking or perception. The subject tú is contained in the verb ending, so it is not written separately. Compare ve for él/ella/usted and ven for ellos/ellas/ustedes. Si here means “whether” and introduces the matter being checked: whether something is missing. It is written without an accent in this use. Do not confuse it with accented sí, which means “yes” or “indeed.” Falta is the present-tense third-person singular form of faltar, “to be missing” or “to be lacking.” Its subject is algo, so the singular form is used: algo falta / falta algo. The verb agrees with what is missing, not with the person doing the seeing. For example, Falta una llave means “A key is missing.” Algo is an indefinite pronoun meaning “something” or, in this question, “anything.” It refers to an unspecified thing; the utterance does not identify exactly what it is. Its singular form fits the singular verb falta. Compare faltan cosas, “things are missing,” where the plural subject requires faltan. Together, Ves si falta algo? literally asks whether you see that something is missing, and its natural meaning is “Do you see anything missing?” The question combines ves (“you see”) with the subordinate clause si falta algo (“whether anything is missing”).

4. Tu cartera y tu teléfono están aquí.

   Your wallet and phone are both here.

   Tu

   your

   cartera

   wallet

   teléfono

   phone

   están aquí

   are here

   More detail

   Tu means “your” here. It is the unstressed possessive determiner used with a singular possessed noun, and it does not change for masculine versus feminine: tu teléfono and tu cartera. Its plural form is tus, as in tus libros. The sentence repeats tu before the second noun, so each item is presented as belonging to the listener. cartera means “wallet” here. It is a feminine singular noun; the article and adjective would agree with it: la cartera pequeña (“the small wallet”). Example: Mi cartera está aquí. — “My wallet is here.” teléfono means “phone.” It is a masculine singular noun, commonly used with el: el teléfono. Its plural is teléfonos. Example: El teléfono está aquí. — “The phone is here.” están aquí means “are here.” Están is the present-tense form of estar for ellos/ellas/ustedes; estar is used for location. The plural form is required because the subject contains both cartera and teléfono: together they form a plural subject. Compare La cartera está aquí (“The wallet is here”) with La cartera y el teléfono están aquí (“The wallet and the phone are here”). Aquí means “here” and identifies the location. Together, Tu cartera y tu teléfono is the compound subject “your wallet and your phone,” and están aquí states their location: “Your wallet and phone are both here.”

5. ¿Dónde está mi cuaderno pequeño?

   Where is my small notebook?

   Dónde

   where

   está

   is located

   mi

   my

   cuaderno

   notebook

   pequeño

   small

   More detail

   Dónde asks for a place or location. The accent mark distinguishes the question word dónde from the unstressed relative adverb donde, used in contexts such as el lugar donde trabajo (“the place where I work”). Example: ¿Dónde está la llave? — “Where is the key?” está is the third-person singular present form of estar (“to be”); here estar expresses location. Its subject is the singular noun phrase mi cuaderno pequeño. Compare está (“is located”) with están (“are located”), the plural form. Example: El libro está aquí. — “The book is here.” mi is the singular possessive determiner meaning “my.” It agrees in number with the possessed noun but does not change for the noun’s grammatical gender: mi cuaderno and mi mochila. Its plural form is mis, as in mis libros (“my books”). cuaderno is a noun meaning “notebook” or “exercise book.” In this utterance it is singular; the plural is cuadernos. The noun is masculine, which is relevant to the form of the adjective that follows it. pequeño means “small.” It is the masculine singular form of the adjective pequeño, agreeing with cuaderno. The corresponding feminine singular form is pequeña, as in una mochila pequeña; plural forms are pequeños and pequeñas. Example: Tengo un cuaderno pequeño. — “I have a small notebook.” Together, mi cuaderno pequeño means “my small notebook,” and ¿Dónde está ...? asks for that item’s location. The complete utterance therefore means “Where is my small notebook?”

6. Está debajo de tu chaqueta.

   It is under your jacket.

   Está

   is located

   debajo de

   under

   tu

   your

   chaqueta

   jacket

   More detail

   Está is the third-person singular present form of estar, used here to say where something is located. The subject is not written separately; the form matches the singular “it” in the fixed translation. Estar is commonly used for location, unlike ser. Example: El libro está aquí. — “The book is here.” debajo de is a reusable prepositional expression meaning “under” or “below.” De introduces the thing used as the reference point. Example: El gato está debajo de la mesa. — “The cat is under the table.” tu means “your” before a singular possessed noun. It has no written accent here; tú with an accent is the subject pronoun “you.” Before a plural noun, the possessive is tus, as in tus libros — “your books.” chaqueta is a feminine singular noun meaning “jacket.” Its usual article is la: la chaqueta. The plural is chaquetas. Together, Está + debajo de expresses the location, and tu chaqueta identifies the reference point: “It is under your jacket.” In the supplied context, “it” is understood as the item being located in the preceding question.

7. Entonces lo tengo todo.

   Then I have everything.

   Entonces

   then

   lo

   it; part of “everything” here

   tengo

   have

   todo

   everything

   More detail

   Entonces is an adverb meaning “then” here. It can link the statement to a preceding situation or conclusion. Example: Entonces, vamos. — “Then, let’s go.” lo is a third-person singular direct-object clitic. In lo tengo todo, it works together with todo in the reusable pattern lo + verb + todo, meaning “have it all/everything.” In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies the combined meaning as “everything”; lo does not by itself identify a particular masculine object. tengo is the first-person singular present form of tener, “to have”: tener → tengo. This form marks the speaker as the subject. Example: Tengo las llaves. — “I have the keys.” todo means “everything” here and completes the pattern lo tengo todo. As a standalone form, todo can also agree with a noun: todo / toda for singular nouns and todos / todas for plural nouns. Example: Todo está listo. — “Everything is ready.” Together, Entonces lo tengo todo means “Then I have everything.” The reusable structure is Entonces + lo tengo todo: “Then + I have it all/everything.”

8. Ahora puedes cerrar la bolsa.

   You can close the bag now.

   Ahora

   now

   puedes

   can

   cerrar

   close

   bolsa

   bag

   More detail

   Ahora means “now” and places the action at the present moment. It can also be moved for emphasis: Ahora puedes cerrar la bolsa and Puedes cerrar la bolsa ahora have the same basic meaning. puedes is the second-person singular present form of poder (“to be able to; can”): yo puedo, tú puedes, él/ella puede. Here it addresses one person informally with tú. Poder followed by an infinitive expresses ability or permission depending on context; here it combines with cerrar to mean “can close.” cerrar is the infinitive “to close.” After a conjugated form of poder, the following verb stays in the infinitive: Puedes abrir la puerta = “You can open the door.” The infinitive does not show who performs the action; puedes identifies the person here. bolsa is a feminine noun meaning “bag.” The phrase la bolsa means “the bag”: the feminine singular article la agrees with bolsa. A useful contrast is el bolso, which is a different masculine noun, commonly meaning “handbag” or “purse” in many contexts; the article changes with that noun. Together, Ahora + puedes + cerrar + la bolsa means “You can close the bag now.” The person addressed is the one who can perform the closing, and ahora places that possibility at the present time.