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Questions & Answers about Yo quito el polvo de la mesa.
What does the verb quitar mean in this sentence?
Quitar generally means “to remove” or “to take away.” In the sentence Yo quito el polvo de la mesa, it conveys the idea of removing dust from the table as part of cleaning.
Why is the subject pronoun Yo explicitly used when the verb form quito already indicates the first person singular?
Spanish is a pro-drop language, meaning the subject pronoun is often omitted because verb endings usually indicate who is performing the action. In this case, yo can be added for emphasis, to clarify the subject, or to contrast with another subject in context.
Why is the noun polvo accompanied by the definite article el?
In Spanish, mass or uncountable nouns like polvo (dust) are typically used with a definite article to refer to a general substance or a known quantity. Here, el polvo specifies the dust that is being removed from the table, even though in English you might simply say “dust” without an article.
What does the phrase de la mesa indicate, and why is it constructed that way?
The phrase de la mesa means “from the table” or “off the table.” It uses the preposition de plus the feminine definite article la (a contraction from “de” + “la”) to show the origin or location of the dust being removed. This construction clearly indicates that the dust is on the table.
Is quitar a regular verb, and how is it correctly conjugated in this context?
Yes, quitar is a regular -ar verb. In the sentence, it is conjugated in the present simple tense for the first person singular as quito. The ending -o is the standard form for yo in regular -ar verbs.