El imán atrae el clavo.

the nail

Breakdown of El imán atrae el clavo.

• el imán: the magnet
• atraer: to attract

Questions & Answers about El imán atrae el clavo.

Why does this sentence use el before imán and clavo? Could we use indefinite articles or omit them?

Spanish often uses the definite article when talking about things in general or known items, even if English would drop “the.”

• General fact: El imán atrae el clavo can be like “A magnet attracts a nail” as a universal law.
• If you want to emphasize “any one magnet” or “any one nail,” you could say Un imán atrae un clavo (“A magnet attracts a nail”).
• To speak generically in plural, you’d use Los imanes atraen los clavos or simply Imanes atraen clavos, though the former is more natural.

Why is the verb atrae and not another form like atrajo or atraigan?

Atrae is the present-tense, third-person singular form of the verb atraer (to attract). The full present conjugation is:
• yo atraigo
• tú atraes
• él/ella/usted atrae
• nosotros atraemos
• vosotros atraéis
• ellos/ellas/ustedes atraen
Since the subject is el imán (he/it), we use atrae.

Shouldn’t there be an a before el clavo, like a personal a construction?

The Spanish “personal a” is used only when the direct object is a specific person or pet. Clavo (nail) is an inanimate thing, so no a is needed. We simply say atrae el clavo.