Breakdown of La rentadora és a la cuina, i avui hi rentem la roba.
ser
to be
avui
today
a
in
la cuina
the kitchen
Questions & Answers about La rentadora és a la cuina, i avui hi rentem la roba.
Why are rentadora, cuina, and roba all introduced by la?
La is the feminine singular definite article, equivalent to the.
These nouns are grammatically feminine:
- la rentadora = the washing machine
- la cuina = the kitchen
- la roba = the clothes / the laundry
This is grammatical gender, not biological sex. In Catalan, nouns normally take an article, and the article has to agree with the noun’s gender and number.
What is és, and why is ser used here instead of estar?
És is the 3rd person singular present of ser: it is.
In Catalan, ser is very commonly used for simple location, especially when you are just saying where something is:
- La rentadora és a la cuina = the washing machine is in the kitchen
English speakers often expect estar because of Spanish, but Catalan uses ser more widely for location. Estar can appear in some contexts too, but és a la cuina is a very natural neutral way to say it.
Also, the accent matters: és = is, while es without an accent is a pronoun.
Why does Catalan use a in a la cuina when English says in the kitchen?