Ella es una candidata bilingüe y responde con calma.

She is a bilingual candidate and answers calmly.

Breakdown of Ella es una candidata bilingüe y responde con calma.

• ser: to be
• ella: she
• y: and
• una: a

Questions & Answers about Ella es una candidata bilingüe y responde con calma.

Why is it es and not está?

Use ser (es) to classify or identify someone: she is a candidate. Estar is for states/conditions or temporary roles. You might hear Está de candidata to stress a temporary or current role in a race. Both are correct but carry different nuances:

• Es candidata = She is (a) candidate (classification).
• Está de candidata = She’s serving/acting as a candidate (temporary/role).

Do I need the article una after ser here?

With professions/roles after ser, Spanish often drops the article: Es candidata. However, when the noun is modified (by an adjective or phrase), using the article is common and often preferred: Es una candidata bilingüe. Both Es candidata bilingüe and Es una candidata bilingüe are accepted; the version with una sounds more natural to many speakers.

Why candidata and not candidato?

Spanish nouns usually agree with the person’s gender. Since it’s ella, use the feminine candidata. The article also agrees: una candidata. The adjective bilingüe is the same for masculine and feminine.

How do you pronounce bilingüe and what are the two dots for?