Using a shared laundry room | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Puedo usar la lavandería compartida?

   Can I use the shared laundry room?

   Puedo

   Can I

   usar

   use

   lavandería

   laundry room

   compartida

   shared

   More detail

   Puedo is the first-person singular present form of poder, “to be able to” or “may/can.” In this question, it asks whether the speaker is allowed or able to do something; the exact nuance comes from the situation. Poder is followed by an infinitive: puedo usar = “I can/may use.” For comparison, puedes means “you can” and puede means “he, she, or you (formal) can.” usar is the infinitive “to use.” After poder, the second verb stays in the infinitive rather than taking a personal ending: puedo usar, “I can use.” Example: ¿Puedo usar esta silla? — “Can I use this chair?” lavandería is a feminine singular noun meaning “laundry room” here. Its meaning can refer more generally to a laundry or laundry service in other contexts, but the fixed translation identifies a laundry room in this sentence. The feminine singular article la agrees with it: la lavandería. compartida is the feminine singular form of compartido, “shared.” It describes lavandería, so it matches that noun in gender and number: lavandería compartida. The masculine singular form is compartido; plural forms include compartidos and compartidas. Example: una cocina compartida — “a shared kitchen.” Together, ¿Puedo usar asks “Can I use,” and la lavandería compartida identifies what the speaker wants to use. The complete utterance means: “Can I use the shared laundry room?” The question is compatible with asking for permission to use a facility that is currently available.

2. Está abierta ahora.

   It is open now.

   Está

   is / is located

   abierta

   open

   ahora

   now

   More detail

   Está is the present-tense form of estar for a singular third-person subject: “is” in a current state or location. Spanish uses estar for temporary or current conditions such as being open, closed, available, or busy. The subject is not stated in the sentence, so the form alone does not identify exactly what “it” refers to. Abierta means “open” here. It is the feminine singular form of abierto, and it agrees with the understood singular feminine subject. The adjective carries the feminine and singular marking; this agreement describes the subject’s grammatical form, but does not by itself identify the subject. Ahora means “now” and places the state at the present time. It can be reused with other current-state statements, such as Está cerrada ahora — “It is closed now.” Together, Está abierta ahora states that the relevant singular feminine thing is open at this moment: “It is open now.”

3. ¿Está libre esta máquina?

   Is this machine free?

   Está

   is

   libre

   free; unoccupied

   esta

   this

   máquina

   machine

   More detail

   Está is the third-person singular present form of estar (“to be”). It agrees with the singular subject esta máquina. Spanish uses estar here for a temporary state or condition, such as availability; es would identify a more inherent or defining characteristic. libre means “free” in the sense of unoccupied or available in this question. It is an adjective whose singular form is the same for masculine and feminine nouns: un asiento libre and una máquina libre; the plural is libres. esta means “this” and is the feminine singular demonstrative that modifies máquina. Its form reflects the noun it accompanies: este with a masculine singular noun, estos with a masculine plural noun, and estas with a feminine plural noun. Here, esta is written without an accent because it functions as a demonstrative determiner before the noun. máquina means “machine.” It is a feminine singular noun, as shown by the feminine singular determiner esta. Its plural is máquinas. Together, está libre describes the machine’s current availability, while esta máquina identifies which machine is being asked about. The question therefore asks whether this machine is available or unoccupied: “Is this machine free?”

4. Esta está disponible.

   This one is available.

   Esta

   this one

   está

   is

   disponible

   available

   More detail

   Esta means “this one” here and functions as a demonstrative pronoun: it stands for a nearby feminine singular thing, naturally the máquina mentioned in the preceding question. The feminine singular form is esta; compare este for a masculine singular referent and estas/estos for plural referents. Example: Esta es nueva. — “This one is new.” Está is the present-tense third-person singular form of estar, used here for a current state or condition. Estar is the useful base form; its subject can be a person or thing, and the form changes with the subject: está for one third-person subject, están for more than one. This contrasts with es from ser, which is used for identity or characteristic rather than this temporary/current availability state. Example: La puerta está abierta. — “The door is open.” Disponible means “available.” As an adjective, it has the same form for masculine and feminine singular nouns: un producto disponible, una máquina disponible. Its plural form is disponibles. Example: Las entradas están disponibles. — “The tickets are available.” Together, Esta identifies one feminine singular item, está expresses its current state, and disponible describes that state. The complete utterance therefore means “This one is available,” answering the question about whether the machine is free.

5. ¿Dónde debo poner mi cesta?

   Where should I put my basket?

   ¿Dónde

   where

   debo

   should; must

   poner

   to put

   mi

   my

   cesta

   basket

   More detail

   ¿Dónde asks for a location: “where?” The opening ¿ and closing ? mark the Spanish question. A useful contrast is ¿Cuándo? (“When?”), which asks about time rather than place. debo is the first-person singular present form of deber: deber → debo. In this question, deber expresses what the speaker ought to do, matching “should.” It can also express stronger obligation as “must” in other contexts. With an infinitive, the pattern is debo + infinitive: Debo esperar means “I should wait.” poner is the infinitive “to put” or “to place.” After a conjugated form such as debo, Spanish uses the infinitive: debo poner, not a second conjugated verb. The verb has an irregular first-person present form, pongo, as in Pongo la cesta aquí (“I put the basket here”), but the form in this utterance remains the infinitive because it follows debo. mi is the singular possessive determiner “my.” It agrees with the possessed noun in number: mi cesta (“my basket”), but mis cestas (“my baskets”). It does not itself identify the speaker’s gender. cesta is a feminine singular noun meaning “basket.” Its usual definite article is la: la cesta (“the basket”). The feminine form is relevant to agreement with words that modify it, for example una cesta pequeña (“a small basket”). Together, debo poner means “should put,” mi cesta means “my basket,” and ¿Dónde asks for the location. The complete utterance therefore means “Where should I put my basket?” It asks for the appropriate place for the speaker to place the basket.

6. Ponla junto a la pared.

   Set it beside the wall.

   Ponla

   put it

   junto a

   beside

   pared

   wall

   More detail

   Ponla is the affirmative command form of poner for tú (one person addressed informally). The pronoun la is attached to the command and marks a singular feminine direct object: pon + la → ponla. Here, the fixed translation identifies that object as “it”; Spanish la also shows that the referred-to object is grammatically feminine. The base verb is poner (“to put”); its command form for tú is pon, not the regular-looking *pone*. Example: Ponla aquí. — “Put it here.” The feminine singular direct-object pronoun remains attached in the affirmative command. junto a is a reusable prepositional construction meaning “beside” or “next to.” It introduces the location of the object. Example: El bolso está junto a la silla. — “The bag is beside the chair.” pared means “wall.” It is a feminine noun, as shown here by the article la: la pared. The plural is las paredes (“the walls”). Together, Ponla identifies the action and its feminine singular object, while junto a la pared gives the destination: “Set it beside the wall.”

7. Sacaré mi ropa cuando termine el lavado.

   I will take my clothes out when the wash is done.

   Sacaré

   I will take out

   ropa

   clothes

   cuando

   when

   termine

   finishes

   lavado

   wash

   More detail

   Sacaré is the first-person singular future of sacar, “to take out” here: yo sacaré = “I will take out.” The accent marks the future ending and keeps the stress on the final syllable. Compare the present saco (“I take out / I am taking out”) with the future sacaré (“I will take out”). ropa means “clothes” in this sentence. It is a feminine noun and is commonly used as a collective or non-count noun, so Spanish normally uses the singular form: la ropa. For individual items, Spanish can use plural ropas in contexts where separate garments are being emphasized, but that is not the form used here. The possessive mi makes the meaning “my clothes.” cuando introduces a time clause meaning “when.” With a future or not-yet-completed event, Spanish commonly uses the subjunctive in the clause after cuando. This is why the sentence has termine, not the present indicative termina. termine is the third-person singular present subjunctive of terminar, “to finish.” In this sentence, the understood subject is el lavado: “when the wash finishes/is done.” The same form can also mean “that I finish” in another context, because the present subjunctive form is shared by first-person singular and third-person singular; the surrounding subject determines the reading. Here the fixed translation supports the third-person reading referring to the wash. lavado means “wash” here, referring to the washing process or load. It comes from the verb lavar (“to wash”) and is used here as a noun with the masculine article el: el lavado. Do not confuse this noun with the adjective or participle lavado, which can describe something as “washed”; its role here is the noun in the time clause. Together, Sacaré mi ropa means “I will take my clothes out,” and cuando termine el lavado adds the time condition “when the wash is done.” The complete utterance is: “I will take my clothes out when the wash is done.”

8. Por favor, recoge la ropa enseguida.

   Please collect them right away.

   Por favor

   please

   recoge

   collect / pick up

   ropa

   clothes

   enseguida

   right away

   More detail

   Por favor is a polite request marker: “please.” It softens the instruction without changing who is being addressed or what action is requested. recoge comes from recoger, “to collect,” “pick up,” or “gather.” Here it is the affirmative command for tú (one person addressed informally): recoge. The same form can also be the present-tense él/ella/usted form, but its role here is a command. Useful contrasts are recoja for an affirmative command to usted and recoged for an affirmative command to vosotros. ropa means “clothes” or “clothing.” It is a feminine singular noun in Spanish, even though English commonly uses the plural “clothes.” The preceding sentence also mentions mi ropa, supporting the clothing meaning here. Spanish can use la ropa for clothing as a collective category; the article la agrees with the singular noun ropa. enseguida is an adverb meaning “right away” or “immediately.” It modifies the action recoge, specifying when it should happen. For example, Ven enseguida means “Come right away.” Together, recoge la ropa means “collect/pick up the clothes,” and enseguida adds the timing “right away.” With the polite marker at the beginning, the whole utterance means: “Please collect the clothes right away.”