Checking the apartment before leaving | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Antes de salir, debemos revisar el apartamento.

   Before we leave, we should check the apartment.

   Antes de

   before

   salir

   to leave

   debemos

   we should; we must

   revisar

   to check

   apartamento

   apartment

   More detail

   Antes de introduces an action that happens earlier than another action. In Antes de salir, Spanish uses de plus an infinitive, so the phrase means “before leaving.” The subject of salir is understood from the sentence context as the same “we” expressed by debemos; the infinitive itself does not show person or number. Compare antes de comer (“before eating”) and después de salir (“after leaving”). salir means “to leave” here. It is an irregular verb whose useful present forms include salgo (“I leave”), sales (“you leave”), and salimos (“we leave”); the infinitive is used after de in this construction. Example: Salimos temprano. — “We leave early.” debemos is the first-person plural present form of deber: deber → debemos. It identifies “we,” and with the following infinitive it expresses an obligation or recommendation. In this sentence, the fixed translation selects the recommendation-like meaning “should,” while debemos revisar can also mean “we must check” in a stronger context. Example: Debemos estudiar. — “We should study.” revisar means “to check” or “to inspect.” It is a regular -ar verb; its present forms include reviso (“I check”) and revisamos (“we check”). After debemos, it remains in the infinitive: debemos revisar, “we should check.” Example: Revisamos la puerta. — “We check the door.” apartamento means “apartment.” It is a masculine singular noun, as shown by el apartamento. Its plural is apartamentos; the feminine noun la habitación (“the room”) is a different noun, not a form of apartamento. Together, Antes de salir means “before leaving,” debemos revisar means “we should check,” and el apartamento identifies what is checked. The complete utterance therefore means: “Before we leave, we should check the apartment.”

2. Ya apagué la estufa.

   I already turned off the stove.

   Ya

   already

   apagué

   I turned off

   estufa

   stove

   More detail

   Ya means “already” here: it marks the action as completed before the relevant moment. It can also mean “now” in other contexts, so its meaning comes from the surrounding clause. apagué comes from apagar, “to turn off” or “to extinguish.” The ending -é marks the first-person singular preterite: “I turned off.” The preterite presents the action as completed. For example: Apagué la luz. — “I turned off the light.” estufa means “stove.” The noun is feminine, as shown by la estufa; the article agrees with the noun. A useful contrast is el horno — “the oven,” where horno is masculine. Together, Ya + apagué + la estufa means “I already turned off the stove.” The completed-action form apagué identifies the speaker as the person who performed the action, while ya emphasizes that it has been done by the relevant time.

3. ¿Están cerradas todas las ventanas?

   Are all the windows closed?

   ¿Están

   are

   cerradas

   closed

   todas

   all

   ventanas

   windows

   More detail

   ¿Están is the present-tense form of estar for third-person plural subjects. Here it agrees with the plural subject todas las ventanas. estar is used with a state or condition, so están asks about their current condition. Example: Las puertas están abiertas. — “The doors are open.” cerradas means “closed” here. It is the feminine plural form of the adjective cerrado, agreeing with ventanas, which is feminine plural. The form is an adjective describing a state; it is not the verb carrying the tense. Compare La ventana está cerrada — “The window is closed” — with Las ventanas están cerradas — “The windows are closed.” todas means “all” and is the feminine plural form agreeing with ventanas. In todas las ventanas, it applies to the entire set of windows rather than to only some of them. The corresponding masculine plural form is todos, as in todos los libros — “all the books.” ventanas means “windows.” Its singular base form is ventana; the plural is formed with -s: ventana → ventanas. The feminine grammatical gender is reflected by todas, las, and cerradas. Together, ¿Están cerradas todas las ventanas? asks whether all the windows are in the closed state: “Are all the windows closed?”

4. La ventana del dormitorio todavía está abierta.

   The bedroom window is still open.

   ventana

   window

   dormitorio

   bedroom

   todavía

   still

   está abierta

   is open

   More detail

   ventana means “window” here. It is a feminine noun: la ventana is singular and las ventanas is plural. Example: La ventana está abierta. — “The window is open.” dormitorio means “bedroom.” In del dormitorio, del is the contraction of de + el, meaning “of the bedroom” or, here, identifying which window: “the bedroom window.” Example: La puerta del dormitorio está cerrada. — “The bedroom door is closed.” todavía means “still.” It indicates that the situation continues at the relevant time. Example: Todavía trabajo aquí. — “I still work here.” está abierta describes the window’s current state. está is the third-person singular present form of estar, used with the singular subject la ventana. abierta is the feminine singular form of abierto, agreeing with ventana; the masculine form is abierto, as in El balcón está abierto. — “The balcony is open.” Here estar presents “open” as a current state, rather than identifying an inherent category of the window. Together, La ventana del dormitorio means “the bedroom window,” todavía adds “still,” and está abierta says that it is open now. The complete utterance therefore means: “The bedroom window is still open.”

5. La cerraré y cerraré con llave la puerta del balcón.

   I'll close it and lock the balcony door.

   La cerraré

   I’ll close it

   cerraré con llave

   I’ll lock with a key

   puerta

   door

   balcón

   balcony

   More detail

   La cerraré combines the feminine singular direct-object clitic la with cerraré, the first-person singular future of cerrar (“to close”). In this sentence, la means “it” and marks a feminine singular object; the supplied context mentions a feminine singular window, but the form itself does not identify the noun. La is placed before the finite verb here; it is not attached to the future form in writing. The clitic does not itself mean “window.” The useful future pattern is cerrar → cerraré (“I will close”). The ending -é marks first-person singular future here. Example: Cerraré la ventana mañana. — “I will close the window tomorrow.” cerraré con llave uses the same first-person future form, while con llave specifies locking with a key. With an object, the reusable pattern is cerrar con llave + object, meaning “to lock [the object].” Example: Cerraré con llave la puerta. — “I will lock the door.” puerta is a feminine noun meaning “door.” Its plural is puertas. In la puerta, la is the singular feminine definite article agreeing with puerta. balcón means “balcony.” In del balcón, del is the contraction of de (“of/from”) and el (“the”), so the phrase means “of the balcony.” Together, the first clause says that the speaker will close the feminine singular object referred to by la, and the second says that the speaker will lock the balcony door. The full meaning is: “I’ll close it and lock the balcony door.”

6. Las luces del pasillo todavía están encendidas.

   The hallway lights are still on.

   luces

   lights

   pasillo

   hallway

   todavía

   still

   están

   are

   encendidas

   on

   More detail

   luces means “lights” here. It is the plural of luz; the feminine plural article las and the ending of encendidas agree with it. Example: Las luces están encendidas. — “The lights are on.” pasillo means “hallway.” The phrase del pasillo means “of the hallway” or, naturally here, “hallway” as the noun that identifies which lights are meant. del is the contraction of de + el. Example: La puerta del pasillo está abierta. — “The hallway door is open.” todavía means “still.” It shows that the state continues at the relevant time. Example: Todavía trabajo aquí. — “I still work here.” están is the present-tense form of estar for ellos/ellas/ustedes; here it agrees with plural las luces. Estar is used for a current state or condition. Example: Las ventanas están abiertas. — “The windows are open.” encendidas means “on” or “lit” here. It is the feminine plural form related to encender, “to turn on” or “to light,” and it agrees with luces. With estar, estar encendido/a describes something as being on; the masculine singular form is encendido, while the feminine plural form here is encendidas. The useful contrast is apagadas, “off.” Example: La lámpara está encendida. — “The lamp is on.” Together, Las luces del pasillo identifies the hallway lights, and todavía están encendidas says that they continue to be on. The complete meaning is: “The hallway lights are still on.”

7. Entonces las apagaré.

   So I'll turn them off.

   Entonces

   so / then

   las

   them

   apagaré

   I will turn off

   More detail

   Entonces means “so” here, linking this utterance to the preceding situation: the hallway lights are still on. It can also mean “then” in other contexts, but “so” best expresses the consequence here. las is a direct-object pronoun meaning “them.” In this context, it refers to the feminine plural las luces (“the lights”) from the preceding sentence. Spanish direct-object pronouns agree with the noun they replace: lo/la for singular and los/las for plural. For example, Apagaré la lámpara becomes La apagaré (“I’ll turn it off”). apagaré is the first-person singular future form of apagar, “to turn off” or “to switch off.” The future pattern is formed with the infinitive plus a future ending: apagaré = apagar + -é, “I will turn off.” Other useful forms include apagarás (“you will turn off”) and apagará (“he, she, or you formal will turn off”). The pronoun las appears before the conjugated verb: las apagaré. Together, Entonces + las + apagaré means “So I’ll turn them off.” The speaker presents turning off the hallway lights as the next action and marks the lights as the plural feminine object with las. The future form identifies the speaker as the person who will do it.

8. Eso debería ser todo.

   That should be everything.

   Eso

   that

   debería

   should

   ser

   be

   todo

   everything

   More detail

   Eso is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” or “that thing.” In this sentence, the fixed translation supports the general reference “that,” without identifying a more specific referent. Demonstrative pronouns can point to something understood from the situation or earlier discourse; their exact referent must come from context. Debería comes from deber (“to have to,” “to ought to”). It is the conditional form used here with the third-person singular subject eso, and in this sentence it expresses an expectation: “should.” The ending -ía is also used in forms such as debería with other singular subjects, so the form alone does not identify every possible subject. Example: Eso debería funcionar. — “That should work.” Ser is the infinitive “to be.” After deber, the following verb normally stays in the infinitive: debería ser means “should be.” Example: Debería ser fácil. — “It should be easy.” Todo means “everything” or “all,” and here it functions as a pronoun referring to the complete set or amount relevant in the situation. Compare Eso es todo. — “That’s everything” or “That’s all.” Together, eso debería ser todo literally builds the idea “that should be everything.” The complete utterance therefore means “That should be everything,” expressing an expectation that the mentioned matter is complete, without asserting absolute certainty.

9. Vamos antes de que sea demasiado tarde.

   Let's go before it gets too late.

   Vamos

   Let’s go

   antes de que

   before

   sea

   gets / is

   demasiado

   too

   tarde

   late

   More detail

   Vamos is the form of ir used here for “let’s go.” It is first-person plural and includes the speaker with one or more others; in this use, it functions as an exhortation rather than a statement that “we go.” Compare the useful form chain ir → vamos (“we go” or “let’s go,” depending on context). Example: Vamos al parque. — “Let’s go to the park.” Antes de que is a reusable connector meaning “before.” It introduces an event that should happen earlier than another event. After antes de que, Spanish normally uses the subjunctive because the later event is viewed as pending or not yet realized. Example: Llámame antes de que salgas. — “Call me before you leave.” Sea is the present subjunctive form of ser, used here after antes de que: ser → sea. The translation’s “it gets” conveys the situation becoming too late, although Spanish does not need an explicit word for “it” here. Example: Antes de que sea tarde, actuemos. — “Before it is too late, let’s act.” Demasiado means “too” when it marks an excessive degree. Here it increases the degree of tarde, so the time is later than is acceptable for the intended action. Example: Es demasiado caro. — “It is too expensive.” Tarde means “late.” In this expression it describes the time or situation, and demasiado tarde means “too late.” Its opposite is temprano, “early.” Example: Llegamos tarde. — “We arrive late.” Together, vamos gives the exhortation “let’s go,” and antes de que sea demasiado tarde sets the deadline: the going should happen before the situation reaches an unacceptably late point. The complete meaning is “Let’s go before it gets too late.”