Breakdown of El gato camina por el pasillo.
caminar
to walk
el gato
the cat
por
through
el pasillo
the hallway
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Questions & Answers about El gato camina por el pasillo.
Why is El used before gato when English often says simply Cat?
In Spanish, nouns generally require a definite article when referring to a specific entity. El is the masculine singular definite article and marks gato as “the cat.” English can drop the article in headlines or generic statements, but Spanish does not. If you meant “A cat walks,” you would say Un gato camina instead.
Why is the verb camina and not the infinitive caminar or another form?
Camina is the third-person singular present indicative form of the verb caminar (to walk). Spanish verbs change their endings to agree with their subjects. Since el gato (he/it) is third person singular, you use camina. The infinitive caminar is the dictionary form and isn’t used alone to express a conjugated action.
Why is the preposition por used instead of en or a?
Spanish uses por to express movement through, along, or around a space. Por el pasillo means “through/along the hallway.”
- En el pasillo would focus on location (“in the hallway”), not movement.
- A el pasillo (actually al pasillo) would indicate movement toward the hallway as a destination (“to the hallway”).
What does pasillo mean and why is it masculine?
Pasillo means hallway or corridor. In Spanish, most nouns ending in -o are masculine, so pasillo takes the masculine article el. Noun gender is grammatical and must be memorized, though the -o/masculine and -a/feminine pattern holds in many cases.
Why is it el pasillo and not un pasillo?
Un pasillo would mean “a hallway,” referring to any hallway in general (indefinite). El pasillo means “the hallway,” pointing to a specific hallway known from context or previous mention (definite).
Can I say El gato está caminando por el pasillo instead? What’s the difference?
Yes. Está caminando (estar + gerund) is the present progressive, emphasizing the action happening right now: “The cat is walking through the hallway.” The simple present (camina) can also describe current actions in Spanish, so it often sounds more natural and is widely used for both habitual and immediate actions.
Why doesn’t the sentence include él before camina?
Spanish usually omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already indicates who is performing the action. Adding él (Él camina por el pasillo) is grammatically correct but redundant unless you want to emphasize that it’s he (or the cat, if context permits) who is walking.
Can the word order change? For instance, Camina el gato por el pasillo?
The default word order in Spanish is Subject-Verb-Object (SVO): El gato camina…. While you can invert elements for emphasis or stylistic effect (e.g., Por el pasillo camina el gato to highlight the hallway), Camina el gato por el pasillo sounds awkward in everyday speech. Stick to the standard order for clarity.