Un lugar interesante está cerca de la montaña.

to be

Breakdown of Un lugar interesante está cerca de la montaña.

• de: of
• interesante: interesting
• el lugar: the place
• la montaña: the mountain
• cerca: near

Questions & Answers about Un lugar interesante está cerca de la montaña.

Why is estar used here instead of ser?

In Spanish, estar is typically used to talk about location or a temporary state. In this sentence, the phrase está cerca de la montaña tells us where something is located. If we used ser, we would be talking about an inherent characteristic of the place rather than its position.

Why do we say cerca de la montaña and not cerca la montaña?

In Spanish, cerca is usually followed by de when indicating proximity. We say cerca de plus a noun, so it naturally becomes cerca de la montaña. Dropping de would be incorrect in this context.

Is lugar masculine or feminine, and how does that affect the sentence?

Lugar is a masculine noun in Spanish, so we use the masculine article un. If it were feminine, we would use una. This affects words like articles and adjectives that might need to agree in gender with lugar.

Could I say Un lugar interesante es cerca de la montaña instead?

No. Even though ser means to be, it doesn’t fit here because we’re talking about location. You would typically use está for places or objects when describing where they are situated.

Does interesante change form if the noun is masculine or feminine?

No. The adjective interesante doesn’t have separate masculine or feminine forms. It stays as interesante regardless of whether the noun is masculine or feminine.

Can I use cerca de with other locations or people?

Absolutely. Cerca de means near or close to. You can say cerca de la ciudad (near the city), cerca del lago (near the lake), or even cerca de mi amigo (close to my friend). The key is to remember to include de.