El ritme és còmode.

to be

Breakdown of El ritme és còmode.

• còmode: comfortable
• el ritme: the pace or rhythm

Questions & Answers about El ritme és còmode.

Why is it el ritme and not just ritme?

Catalan often uses the definite article more regularly than English does. So el ritme literally means the rhythm.

In a short statement like this, using the article sounds natural and complete in Catalan. Leaving it out would usually sound less standard unless you were speaking in a very specific context, like headings, notes, or dictionary-style language.

What does el mean, and when is it used?

El is the masculine singular definite article, equivalent to English the.

Here it is used because ritme is a masculine singular noun:

• el ritme = the rhythm

Other common definite articles in Catalan are:

• la for feminine singular
• els for masculine plural
• les for feminine plural

So if the noun were feminine, you would not use el.

Is ritme masculine or feminine? How can I tell?

Ritme is masculine, which is why it takes el.

Unfortunately, you cannot always tell gender just from the ending. While many Catalan nouns ending in -a are feminine and many others are masculine, there are lots of exceptions and patterns to learn over time.

The safest way is to learn nouns together with their article:

• el ritme
• la música
• el so

That way, you automatically learn the gender too.