La música clásica es importante para mi familia.

Classical music is important for my family.

Breakdown of La música clásica es importante para mi familia.

• ser: to be
• mi: my
• la familia: the family
• para: for
• la música: the music
• importante: important
• clásica: classical

Questions & Answers about La música clásica es importante para mi familia.

Why do we use la before música clásica?

In Spanish, la is the feminine singular definite article. We use it here because música is a feminine noun and we're referring to classical music in a general sense. Spanish typically uses definite articles when talking about things in general (for example, la música, el deporte, etc.).

Why is it es and not está?

Es comes from the verb ser, which refers to permanent or intrinsic characteristics (or general truths). Here, the importance of classical music is seen as a defining characteristic for the family. If you used está, it would imply a temporary or changeable condition, which doesn't fit the context of lasting importance.

Why do we say importante and not importanta or something else?

Adjectives that end in -e in Spanish are typically the same for both masculine and feminine nouns. So the word importante doesn’t change form whether you use it with masculine nouns (el tema importante) or feminine nouns (la música importante).

What’s the difference between para and por here?

Generally, para is used to indicate purpose, destination, or benefit (among other uses), whereas por often indicates cause or reason. In this sentence, para communicates that classical music is important for or to the family, indicating who receives or holds the importance. Using por would imply more of a reason or cause, so por mi familia would mean “because of my family,” which changes the meaning.

Why do we say mi familia instead of mis familias?

Mi familia is singular because you’re referring to your entire family as one collective unit. Even though a family can have many members, it is typically treated as a singular entity in Spanish. If you were talking about multiple families (for example, a big gathering of different families), you might use mis familias, but that’s not the case here.