El refugi és a prop.

to be

Breakdown of El refugi és a prop.

• a prop: nearby
• el refugi: the mountain shelter

Questions & Answers about El refugi és a prop.

Why is it el refugi and not just refugi?

El is the masculine singular definite article, meaning the.

In Catalan, you often use the article where English also uses the, so el refugi means the shelter or the refuge.

The noun refugi is masculine, which is why it takes el.

What does és mean here?

És is the he/she/it is form of the verb ser (to be).

So in El refugi és a prop, és means is.

A few related forms of ser are:

• sóc = I am
• ets = you are
• és = he/she/it is
• som = we are
• sou = you all are
• són = they are

Why do we use ser here instead of estar?

Catalan, like Spanish, has two main verbs for to be: ser and estar.

In El refugi és a prop, ser is used because a prop is functioning as a locational expression meaning nearby / close in a general sense.

With places and location, Catalan often uses ser where English just uses to be. So és a prop is the natural way to say is nearby.