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El autobús para en la estación.

El autobús para en la estación.
The bus stops at the station.
FromLesson 35inHardcore Spanish (Latin America)

Breakdown of El autobús para en la estación.

la estación
the station
el autobús
the bus
en
at
parar
to stop

Questions & Answers about El autobús para en la estación.

How do we know para is a verb here, not the preposition meaning “for”?
In this sentence para is directly following the subject el autobús and indicates an action (“stops”). That makes it the 3rd-person singular present indicative of the verb parar (to stop). The preposition para (“for”) would appear before another noun or pronoun (e.g. para ti) and wouldn’t make sense right after el autobús.
What person and tense is para, and what’s the infinitive?
Para is 3rd person singular (él/ella/usted) in the present indicative. The infinitive is parar (“to stop”). In English you’d say “he stops,” while in Spanish you simply say para when the subject is clear from context.
Why isn’t there an explicit subject pronoun (like él) before para?
Spanish often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already tells you who’s doing the action. Since para is uniquely 3rd person singular here, adding él would be redundant: El autobús él para en la estación sounds awkward and isn’t used.
Why is there a definite article el before autobús? English sometimes omits “the.”
Spanish generally uses definite articles (el, la) before nouns even when speaking about things in general or well-defined contexts. Here el autobús refers to a specific bus (perhaps the one on this route), so you need el.
Why do we use en la estación instead of a la estación?
The verb parar takes en to express the location where something stops. En means “in/at.” The preposition a is used with verbs of motion to indicate direction toward (“to the station”), but not to mark the place where you stop.
Could we use another verb, like detenerse, and say El autobús se detiene en la estación? Is it the same?
Yes, El autobús se detiene en la estación is correct and has essentially the same meaning. Detenerse is a pronominal verb (“to stop oneself”) and sounds slightly more formal, but in everyday speech parar is very common.
Why is autobús masculine and estación feminine? I thought words ending in consonants were all one gender.
Spanish gender isn’t always predictable by endings, though many –o words are masculine and –a words are feminine. Exceptions abound. Nouns ending in -ción (like estación) are always feminine, hence la estación. Autobús ends in -ús, but it’s simply masculine (el autobús). It’s best to learn each noun with its article: el autobús, la estación.
Why do autobús and estación have written accents, and how does that affect pronunciation?

Accents mark irregular stress.

  • autobús: stress on the last syllable (au-to-BÚS). English speakers might default to the penultimate, but the accent forces the final syllable.
  • estación: stress on the last syllable (es-ta-CIÓN). Without the accent, we’d misplace the stress. Always pronounce the accented syllable more strongly.
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“How does verb conjugation work in Spanish?”
Spanish verbs change form based on the subject, tense, and mood. Regular verbs follow predictable patterns depending on whether they end in ‑ar, ‑er, or ‑ir. For example, "hablar" (to speak) becomes "hablo" (I speak), "hablas" (you speak), and "habla" (he/she speaks) in the present tense.

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