La comida internacional es interesante.

International food is interesting.

Breakdown of La comida internacional es interesante.

• ser: to be
• la comida: the food
• interesante: interesting
• internacional: international

Questions & Answers about La comida internacional es interesante.

Why is comida preceded by la instead of el?

Because comida is a feminine noun in Spanish. Most nouns ending in -a are feminine, so they take the feminine definite article la (singular). If it were masculine (e.g. el libro), you’d use el.

Why does the adjective internacional come after the noun, and does it change form for gender?

In Spanish the typical order is noun + adjective, so comida internacional. Adjectives ending in -al have only two forms:
• internacional (singular)
• internacionales (plural)
They don’t change for gender, only for number.

How would you make the sentence plural (“International foods are interesting”)?

You’d make both noun and adjective plural and use las:
Las comidas internacionales son interesantes.
• comidas = plural of comida
• internacionales = plural of internacional
• son interesantes = plural of es interesante

Why is ser used (es interesante) instead of estar?

Use ser for inherent or permanent qualities and general truths. Saying es interesante implies that international food is, by nature, interesting. Estar interesante would imply a temporary state, which isn’t how we describe a permanent quality like “being interesting.”

In English we say “International food is interesting” without an article. Why does Spanish include la?

Spanish usually uses the definite article before a noun in general statements:
• English: Cats like fish.
• Spanish: Los gatos comen pescado.
Similarly, La comida internacional es interesante refers to the whole category “international food,” so the article la is required.

Could we say cocina internacional instead of comida internacional? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can.
• comida internacional refers to the food itself (dishes, ingredients).
• cocina internacional emphasizes the cuisine or cooking style (techniques, traditions).
Both are correct but highlight slightly different concepts.

Why is internacional not capitalized?

In Spanish adjectives are written in lowercase, even those derived from proper nouns (like mexicano, francés). Only proper names (people, countries) and the first word of a sentence are capitalized.