Anoche estaba sucio, pero el personal lo limpió.

Last night it was dirty, but the staff cleaned it.

Breakdown of Anoche estaba sucio, pero el personal lo limpió.

• estar: to be
• sucio: dirty
• limpiar: to clean
• lo: it

Questions & Answers about Anoche estaba sucio, pero el personal lo limpió.

Why is estaba used instead of fue in “Anoche estaba sucio”?

Because estaba (estar in imperfect) describes a temporary state or condition in the past (“it was dirty last night”). By contrast, fue (ser in preterite) marks a completed event or permanent characteristic. You use estar + imperfect for ongoing or background descriptions.

What does sucio refer to, and why isn’t it sucia?

Sucio is an adjective describing the thing that got cleaned. It must agree in gender and number with that noun. Here, the implied object is masculine singular (for instance, “el piso” or “el coche”), so sucio is masculine. If the object were feminine (“la mesa”), you’d say Anoche estaba sucia.

How do we know what lo refers to in “el personal lo limpió”?

Lo is a masculine singular direct‐object pronoun standing in for the previously mentioned thing that was dirty. If the dirty item is masculine (like el cuarto, el auto, el piso), you replace it with lo. If it were feminine, you’d use la.

Why is el personal treated as singular, and how does that affect the verb?