Breakdown of El robot recoge piezas de plástico y las coloca en una caja.
en
in
de
of
y
and
recoger
to pick up
una
a
las
them
el robot
the robot
la pieza
the piece
el plástico
the plastic
colocar
to put
la caja
the box
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Questions & Answers about El robot recoge piezas de plástico y las coloca en una caja.
Why is el used before robot?
In Spanish, most nouns require a definite article when you refer to something specific. El is the masculine singular definite article, and robot is a masculine noun. So el robot means the robot.
What tense and person is recoge, and why is it used here?
Recoge is the third person singular present indicative form of recoger (to pick up/to collect). It corresponds to él/ella/usted, and here it matches el robot (the robot) as the subject, expressing what the robot does right now or habitually.
Why do we say piezas de plástico instead of piezas de un plástico?
When indicating what something is made of or its material, Spanish uses de plus the material noun without an article. So piezas de plástico literally means pieces of plastic. Adding un would sound like “pieces of one plastic,” which isn’t correct.
What is the function of las in las coloca?
Las is a feminine plural direct object pronoun replacing piezas. Instead of repeating piezas de plástico, you say las coloca (“he places them”). In Spanish, object pronouns agree in gender and number with the noun they replace.
Why is there no subject pronoun before coloca (like él coloca)?
Spanish usually drops the subject pronoun because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is. Coloca ends in -a, indicating third person singular, so adding él is redundant unless you want emphasis.
Why is una caja used, and why is caja feminine?
All Spanish nouns have gender. Caja (box) is a feminine noun, so you use the feminine article. Una is the feminine singular indefinite article (like a or an in English), indicating that it’s not a specific known box.
Why is en used in en una caja instead of a or hacia?
En expresses location (“inside” or “within”). Here it means the robot places the pieces inside a box. A would indicate movement toward something, and hacia means “toward” more generally, not necessarily inside.
Why does de plástico come after piezas instead of before?
Spanish normally places descriptive phrases (like material, origin, or other modifiers) after the noun. So piezas (pieces) comes first, and then de plástico (of plastic) describes what kind of pieces they are.