El gato está dentro.

The cat is inside.

Breakdown of El gato está dentro.

• estar: to be
• el gato: the cat
• dentro: inside

Questions & Answers about El gato está dentro.

Why is está used instead of es?

In Spanish, ser (es) and estar (está) both translate as “to be,” but they serve different functions. You use estar for temporary states, conditions, and locations. Here, you’re saying where the cat is (its location), so you need está, the third-person singular of estar in the present tense.

What does dentro mean, and why is there no preposition before it?

Dentro is an adverb of place meaning “inside.” As an adverb, it stands alone and doesn’t require a preposition:
• El gato está dentro. = “The cat is inside.”
If you wanted to link it to a noun, you could say dentro de + noun (e.g., dentro de la caja = “inside the box”).

Can I use adentro instead of dentro? What’s the difference?

Both dentro and adentro can mean “inside,” but there are regional/style preferences:
• Dentro is more universal in both Spain and Latin America when describing location.
• Adentro is especially common in some Latin American countries (Mexico, Central America) and often suggests motion toward the inside (“come in here”).
For a simple stative location like “The cat is inside,” dentro is more neutral.

Why do we need the article el? Can I say Gato está dentro?

Spanish typically requires a definite article before common nouns when you mean a specific instance of that noun. El gato = “the cat.”
Without el, Gato está dentro sounds odd or too telegraphic. You could omit the article only in very informal, clipped contexts (like notes or headlines), but in normal speech or writing, include el.

Can the subject el gato be dropped, so I just say Está dentro?

Yes. Spanish is a pro-drop language: you can omit the subject pronoun or noun if context makes it clear. If you’re already talking about a cat, simply saying Está dentro is perfectly natural:
– ¿Dónde está el gato?
– Está dentro.

Is está here a present‐continuous form? Shouldn’t I say something like está estando?

No. Spanish doesn’t form a continuous aspect for estar with -ando/-iendo (that would be ungrammatical). You simply use the present tense está to express a current state or location. For ongoing actions, you use estar + gerund (e.g., está comiendo), but not with estar itself.

What if I change the word order? Can I say Dentro está el gato?

Yes, that’s grammatically correct, but it shifts emphasis. Starting with dentro highlights the place (“Inside is where the cat is”). It sounds a bit more poetic or emphatic than the neutral El gato está dentro.

How do I pronounce dentro? Where is the stress?

Dentro has two syllables: DEN-tro. The stress falls on the first syllable (DEN). You don’t write an accent because it’s a standard two-syllable word ending in a vowel, so it naturally stresses the penultimate syllable.