Ese gato duerme en la ventana.

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Breakdown of Ese gato duerme en la ventana.

• el gato: the cat
• dormir: to sleep
• la ventana: the window
• ese: that

Questions & Answers about Ese gato duerme en la ventana.

Why do we use ese instead of este in this sentence?

ese refers to something that is at a moderate distance from the speaker (often closer to or more relevant to the listener). este refers to something close to the speaker. In this context, since the cat is presumably away from the speaker, ese is appropriate.

Why is it duerme instead of duermes or dormir?

duerme is the third-person singular form of the verb dormir used with él/ella (he/she) or any singular noun. You use duermes when you address someone directly (tú form), and dormir is the infinitive form (to sleep). Here, we’re talking about gato (the cat), which takes the third-person singular, so duerme is correct.

Can we say gata instead of gato?

Yes, if you know the cat is female, you would say gata (a feminine noun). gato is the masculine form. The rest of the sentence would stay the same—Esa gata duerme en la ventana.

Why do we use la instead of el before ventana?

Spanish nouns can be masculine or feminine. ventana is grammatically feminine, so we use the feminine article la. If it were a masculine noun like libro (book), we would use el.

Do we always use duerme for the present tense or can we say está durmiendo?

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things:
• Ese gato duerme en la ventana (simple present) describes a habitual action or a general fact.
• Ese gato está durmiendo en la ventana (present progressive) emphasizes that the cat is sleeping in the window right at this moment.