El cotxe és petit.

to be

Breakdown of El cotxe és petit.

• el cotxe: the car
• petit: small

Questions & Answers about El cotxe és petit.

Why is it el cotxe and not just cotxe?

El means the. So el cotxe means the car.

Catalan often uses the definite article the same way English does, but in some contexts Catalan uses it even where English might not. In this sentence, el is simply the normal definite article for a singular masculine noun.

• el cotxe = the car
• un cotxe = a car

So if you changed the sentence to Un cotxe és petit, it would mean A car is small.

Is cotxe masculine or feminine, and how can I tell?

Cotxe is masculine, which is why it takes the article el.

You often learn a noun’s gender together with its article:

• el cotxe = the car
• la casa = the house

There is not always a perfect rule for guessing gender from the noun ending, so it is best to memorize nouns with their article. In this case, learn el cotxe, not just cotxe.

What does és mean here?

És is the he/she/it and formal you form of the verb ser, which means to be.

So:

• El cotxe és petit =