La bicicleta estàtica és al costat de la màquina.

to be

Breakdown of La bicicleta estàtica és al costat de la màquina.

• al costat de: next to
• la màquina: the exercise machine
• la bicicleta estàtica: the stationary bicycle

Questions & Answers about La bicicleta estàtica és al costat de la màquina.

Why is the adjective after the noun in bicicleta estàtica?

In Catalan, adjectives often come after the noun, especially when they classify the noun rather than just describe it.

So bicicleta estàtica means a specific type of bicycle: an exercise bike / stationary bike. This is very natural word order in Catalan.

Why is it estàtica and not estàtic?

Because adjectives in Catalan usually agree with the noun in gender and number.

• bicicleta is feminine singular
• so the adjective must also be feminine singular: estàtica

If the noun were masculine, you would use estàtic instead.

Why does the sentence use és instead of està?

This is a very common learner question.

In Catalan, ser and estar do not work exactly like Spanish or English. For location, Catalan often uses ser in neutral statements of where something is:

• La bicicleta estàtica és al costat de la màquina.

In everyday speech, many speakers also use estar for physical location:

• La bicicleta estàtica està al costat de la màquina.

So és here is normal and correct. Està may also be heard, especially in more colloquial speech or when emphasizing the current position.