Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): El perro come comida.

In Spanish, el is the masculine singular definite article, matching the masculine noun perro (dog). La is the feminine article, which would be used if we were talking about a feminine noun (e.g., la perra for a female dog).

Why does the verb end with -e rather than -es like in English (e.g., "dog eats")?

Spanish does not add -s to the third person singular in the present tense. Instead, regular -er verbs like comer have endings like -e (él/ella/usted come). Unlike English, Spanish doesn't insert an -s in the third person.

Why do we say come comida rather than está comiendo comida?

In Spanish, the simple present tense (come) can express both a habitual action ("the dog eats food regularly") and a current action ("the dog is eating food right now"). If you want to emphasize that it's happening right now, you can use está comiendo, but it's not always necessary.

What does comida exactly mean here? Is it just "food"?

Comida generally means "food," but it can also mean "meal" in certain contexts (e.g., la comida = the main midday meal in some Spanish-speaking countries). In this sentence, it simply means the dog’s food.