Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): El estudiante perezoso no termina la tarea. - The lazy student doesn’t finish the homework.

In Spanish, all nouns have gender and require an article. Estudiante can be masculine or feminine. When referring to a male student, you use the masculine definite article el. If it were a female student, you’d say la estudiante.

Why is the adjective perezoso placed after the noun instead of before?

Most adjectives in Spanish follow the noun they modify. So instead of saying lazy student (English order), in Spanish it’s estudiante perezoso (literally “student lazy”). Placing the adjective before the noun (as in perezoso estudiante) is possible for special emphasis or stylistic reasons, but the usual order is noun + adjective.

How do we know that perezoso agrees with estudiante in gender and number?

Adjectives in Spanish must match the noun’s gender and number. Estudiante here is singular and masculine, so you use the singular masculine form perezoso. If the student were female, it would be perezosa; if there were multiple students, you’d use perezosos or perezosas.

Why is there a no before termina?

Spanish negation places no directly before the conjugated verb. That’s how you say “does not finish.” Putting no after the verb (e.g. termina no) would be ungrammatical in Spanish.

What person and number is the verb termina?

Termina is the third-person singular form of the verb terminar (to finish). It agrees with el estudiante, which is a singular subject (“he”/“the student”).

Why do we use la before tarea?

Tarea is a feminine singular noun meaning “homework” or “assignment,” so it takes the feminine singular definite article la: la tarea. Even in negative sentences, the article remains.

Could we say El estudiante perezoso no está terminando la tarea instead?

Yes. No termina la tarea is simple present (“he doesn’t finish his homework” as a habit or general fact). No está terminando la tarea is present progressive (“he is not finishing his homework right now”). Use the simple present for routines and the progressive for actions in progress.

Can we drop el and just say Estudiante perezoso no termina la tarea?

Typically no. In everyday Spanish you include the article before a noun. Omitting el sounds like a newspaper headline (“Lazy student doesn’t finish homework”) but is not standard in regular speech.