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Questions & Answers about El agua con hielo está fría.
Why is agua preceded by el instead of la?
Although agua ends in –a and is grammatically feminine, Spanish uses the masculine definite article el before singular feminine nouns that start with a stressed a- (or ha-) sound. This avoids the awkward repetition of vowel sounds (la agua). The noun remains feminine, as you see in the adjective agreement (e.g., el agua fría, las aguas frías).
Why is the adjective fría used here and not frío?
Adjectives in Spanish must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Since agua is feminine (despite taking the article el for phonetic reasons), the correct form is fría, not frío.
Why does fría come after the noun instead of before it?
The default word order in Spanish places descriptive adjectives after the noun they describe: agua fría. Some adjectives can go before the noun for emphasis or stylistic effect, but the neutral, most common pattern is noun + adjective.
Why does está have an accent mark?
The accent on está indicates the stressed syllable and distinguishes it from esta (the demonstrative adjective meaning “this”). Está (with accent) is the third person singular present of estar (to be).
Why use está (from estar) instead of es (from ser)?
Spanish has two verbs for “to be”: ser and estar. Estar expresses temporary states, conditions, or locations. Since being cold is a temporary condition, we say está fría rather than es fría, which would suggest a permanent trait.
What role does con play in this sentence?
Con means “with.” It links agua and hielo to show that the water contains or is served with ice: “water with ice.”
Why is hielo singular instead of hielos?
Here hielo functions as a mass noun (like English “ice”) to refer to ice in general, not to countable pieces. If you wanted to count ice cubes specifically, you’d say cubos de hielo.
Is the article el mandatory even though English often omits “the”?
Yes. Spanish generally requires the definite article before nouns, especially in general statements. Omitting it (Agua con hielo está fría) would sound incomplete or awkward in most contexts.
Could we say agua fría con hielo instead of el agua con hielo está fría?
You could use agua fría con hielo as a noun phrase—“cold water with ice”—often seen on menus or in lists. But as a full sentence describing a condition, you need the verb: El agua con hielo está fría (“The water with ice is cold”).