El gato duerme dentro de la casa.

The cat sleeps inside the house.

Breakdown of El gato duerme dentro de la casa.

• el gato: the cat
• dormir: to sleep
• la casa: the house
• dentro de: inside

Questions & Answers about El gato duerme dentro de la casa.

Why is el used before gato?

In Spanish, most singular countable nouns require a definite article when you’re talking about a specific thing. Since gato is masculine and singular, we use the masculine definite article el (equivalent to “the” in English). Omitting the article (Gato duerme…) sounds unnatural in standard Spanish.

Why is there no él before duerme?

Spanish often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already indicates who’s doing the action. The form duerme is marked for third person singular, so you don’t need to say él (“he”) explicitly.

Why is duerme used instead of duermo or duermen?

duerme is the third person singular (él/ella/usted) form in the present indicative tense of dormir.

• duermo is first person singular (I sleep)
• duermes is second person singular informal (you sleep)
• duermen is third person plural (they sleep)

What kind of verb change happens in duerme, and why?

dormir is an o→ue stem-changing verb. In stressed syllables, the o in the stem changes to ue:

• dormir → yo duermo
• tú duermes
• él/ella duerme
• ellos duermen
  This stem change does not occur in the nosotros/vosotros forms (dormimos, dormís).

Why doesn’t the sentence use the present progressive (está durmiendo) like English “is sleeping”?

Spanish can express ongoing actions with either the simple present or the present progressive.

• duerme (simple present) is often used for habits or general statements (“The cat sleeps inside the house”).
• está durmiendo (present progressive) emphasizes the action happening right at this moment (“The cat is in the process of sleeping right now”).

What does dentro de mean, and why is de necessary?

dentro de means “inside (of).” The word dentro requires the preposition de when it’s followed by a noun. You cannot say dentro la casa; you need dentro de la casa.

Can you use adentro instead of dentro de?

Yes. adentro is an adverb meaning “inside.” You can say El gato está adentro (The cat is inside). If you want to specify the noun, you still use de: adentro de la casa.

Could you replace dentro de la casa with en la casa?

Yes, en la casa means “in the house.” However, dentro de la casa puts extra emphasis on being in the interior, whereas en is more general for location (it could be on the roof, in a room, etc.).

Why is la used before casa instead of una?

Because the sentence refers to a specific house that’s understood by both speaker and listener. la casa = “the house.” If you said una casa, it would mean “a house,” implying any house, not one in particular.

Can dentro de la casa go at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Spanish word order is flexible for emphasis or style. You could say:
Dentro de la casa duerme el gato.
This front-loading highlights the location before mentioning the subject.