El zapato está mojado.

The shoe is wet.

Breakdown of El zapato está mojado.

• estar: to be
• mojado: wet
• el zapato: the shoe

Questions & Answers about El zapato está mojado.

Why do we use está instead of es in this sentence?

Estar is used for temporary conditions or states—like being wet—whereas ser is used for more permanent or inherent characteristics. Here, the shoe’s wetness is considered a temporary condition, so we say está mojado.

Why is mojado used, and not mojada?

Mojado agrees with the gender of zapato, which is a masculine noun in Spanish. If it were a feminine noun (for example, la camisa), you would use mojada instead.

How do I know that zapato is masculine?

In Spanish, nouns ending in -o are typically masculine. You’ll often see el before a masculine noun (like el zapato), and la before a feminine noun (like la camisa).

Could I say El zapato es mojado?

Not in the sense of describing the shoe’s current state. Saying es mojado would imply that being wet is a permanent or defining quality of the shoe, which doesn’t make sense in most contexts. So, use está for something that is currently wet.

Does change form if I’m talking about multiple shoes?