La comida está en la mesa.

to be

Breakdown of La comida está en la mesa.

• la comida: the food
• en: on
• la mesa: the table

Questions & Answers about La comida está en la mesa.

Why do we use está instead of es in La comida está en la mesa?

In Spanish, estar is often used to indicate location or a temporary state. Since we are talking about where the food is located (on the table), we use está (from estar) rather than es (from ser).

Why does comida take the feminine article la?

Nouns in Spanish have grammatical gender. Comida is a feminine noun, so it takes the article la. Many nouns ending in -a are feminine, although there are exceptions.

Could we say La comida se encuentra en la mesa to mean the same thing?

Yes, it would still mean that the food is on the table. However, se encuentra sounds a bit more formal or descriptive, implying "it is found" or "it is located" on the table. Está is the straightforward, most common way to express location.

Is there a difference between en la mesa and sobre la mesa?

Both can mean the food is physically on the table. En usually translates to "in," "on," or "at," while sobre specifically means "on top of." In everyday conversation, en la mesa is completely natural for saying something is on the table.

Why can’t we just say La comida está en mesa without the article la?

In Spanish, definite articles (like la) are required before nouns in many cases where English doesn’t need an article. Here, en mesa sounds incomplete. Spanish grammar generally needs the article when referring to specific objects — in this case, the specific table the food is on.