Mi cuello está mojado.

My neck is wet.

Breakdown of Mi cuello está mojado.

• mi: my
• estar: to be
• mojado: wet
• el cuello: the neck

Questions & Answers about Mi cuello está mojado.

Why is mi used here instead of mío?

mi is a possessive adjective that you place directly before a noun (just like “my” in English). It never changes form.
mío, on the other hand, is a possessive pronoun (“mine”) that replaces the noun or follows it with an article:
• Es mi libro = It’s my book.
• El libro es mío = The book is mine.

Why isn’t there an article (like el) before cuello?

In Spanish, when you use a possessive adjective (mi, tu, su, etc.), you drop the definite article. You say mi casa, tu coche, su perro, mi cuello, not la mi casa or el mi cuello.

Why is está (from estar) used, rather than es (from ser)?

Spanish has two verbs for “to be.” You use ser for permanent traits or identities, and estar for temporary states or locations.
• Mi cuello es largo (“My neck is long” – a describing trait)
• Mi cuello está mojado (“My neck is wet” – a temporary condition)

What part of speech is mojado, and why does it end in -o?

Mojado is an adjective (it comes from the past participle of mojar, “to wet”). As an adjective, it must agree in gender and number with cuello, which is masculine singular. Hence mojado ends in -o, not -a or -os.

Could I say tengo el cuello mojado instead? What’s the difference?

Yes. In Latin America, tener + noun + adjective often expresses a state or physical condition:
• Mi cuello está mojado emphasizes the current state (“my neck is wet right now”).
• Tengo el cuello mojado can emphasize that I “have my neck wet” as a condition or result, especially after you’ve just done something (e.g. “I just got my neck wet”). Nuance is small; both are perfectly natural.

Can I say me mojé el cuello? When would I use that?

Yes. Mojarse can be reflexive when you talk about getting something wet unintentionally or by your own action.
• Me mojé el cuello = “I got my neck wet” (I accidently wet it).
This focuses on the action/event (I got wet) rather than simply describing the resulting state.

What’s the difference between mojado, húmedo, and empapado?

They all relate to wetness, but differ in intensity:
• mojado = wet (water on the surface)
• húmedo = damp or slightly moist (less water than mojado)
• empapado = soaked or drenched (extremely wet, water has penetrated deeply)

Is Mi cuello está mojado a passive-voice sentence in Spanish?

No. It’s simply estar + participle used as an adjective to describe a state. A true passive would use ser + participle (plus optionally por + agent), e.g. El cuadro fue pintado por él (The painting was painted by him). Here, está mojado just means “is wet.”