Breakdown of Estoy en la tercera página del libro verde.
Questions & Answers about Estoy en la tercera página del libro verde.
Spanish uses estar (estoy) for:
- Location: where someone or something is
- Temporary states / positions: sitting, lying, on a page, etc.
Being “on page 3” is treated as a location/position, so you use estar:
- Estoy en la tercera página... = I am (located) on the third page...
Ser (soy) is not used for physical location like this. You’d use soy for identity or permanent characteristics:
- Soy profesor. = I am a teacher.
- Soy alto. = I am tall.
So soy en la tercera página is incorrect in Spanish.
Yes, and in fact that’s the normal way to say it.
Spanish usually omits subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, etc.) when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.
- Yo estoy en la tercera página… → grammatically correct, but often sounds emphatic, like “I am on the third page (not someone else).”
- Estoy en la tercera página… → neutral and most common.
So the sentence as given, without yo, is perfectly natural.
Spanish often uses en to express what English calls “on” in many contexts, especially with pages or locations in a book.
- Estoy en la página tres. = I’m on page three.
- Está en la mesa. = It’s on the table.
Sobre can also mean “on (top of)” or “about,” but:
- Estoy en la página tres is the standard, natural way to say “I’m on page 3.”
- Estoy sobre la página tres sounds odd or overly literal, like you are physically lying on top of the page.
So en is the usual preposition for being located “on” a page in a book.
In Spanish, ordinal numbers like primero, segundo, tercero, cuarto, etc. act like adjectives and must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
- página is feminine singular → la página
- The ordinal number must also be feminine singular → tercera
So you get:
- la tercera página (the third page)
Using tercero página would be mixing a masculine form (tercero) with a feminine noun (página), which is incorrect.
Standard, careful Spanish prefers la tercera página, but in many parts of Latin America it’s common in speech to use the shorter form:
- el tercer capítulo
- la tercer página
So:
- la tercera página → formally “more correct” / safer in writing
- la tercer página → widely used in everyday Latin American speech; generally accepted in many regions
If you want a neutral and universally correct form, use la tercera página, especially in writing.
Yes, both are correct and both mean “on page three”:
- Estoy en la página tres.
- Estoy en la tercera página.
Nuance:
- en la página tres: uses a cardinal number (tres). Very common, very natural, especially when referring to page numbers, chapter numbers, etc.
- en la tercera página: uses an ordinal number (tercera). Also correct, slightly more “descriptive” or “formal” sounding in some contexts, but still normal.
In practice, en la página tres is more frequent in everyday speech when referring to specific page numbers.
Del is a contraction of de + el:
- de = of / from
- el = the (masculine singular)
So:
- de + el libro verde → del libro verde
Spanish must contract de + el to del (and a + el to al) when they come together.
You can’t say:
- ✗ de el libro verde → incorrect
- ✓ del libro verde → correct
Spanish generally puts adjectives after nouns, especially for basic descriptive qualities like color, size, nationality, etc.
- libro verde = green book
- casa grande = big house
- coche rojo = red car
Putting the adjective before the noun (verde libro) is almost never correct in this kind of simple description. It would sound strange or poetic at best.
So the normal order is:
- el libro verde = the green book
Yes, but verde is one of the adjectives that only changes for number, not for gender.
- verde (singular)
- verdes (plural)
Examples:
- el libro verde = the green book
- la casa verde = the green house
- los libros verdes = the green books
- las casas verdes = the green houses
So verde stays the same for masculine/feminine, but becomes verdes for plural.
In this context you normally need the definite article la:
- Estoy en la tercera página. → natural and correct
- ✗ Estoy en tercera página. → sounds incomplete or unnatural here
Spanish typically uses definite articles (el, la, los, las) with:
- Specific items: la tercera página (de ese libro)
- Days of the week, body parts, etc.
Dropping la in this sentence doesn’t sound like natural Spanish.
Yes, página is feminine: la página, una página, esta página.
General patterns (with exceptions):
- Nouns ending in -a are often feminine: la casa, la mesa, la página
- Nouns ending in -o are often masculine: el libro, el perro
But there are exceptions (e.g. el día, la mano), so it’s best to learn the gender with the word:
- la página (not just página)
- el libro (not just libro)
Yes, grammatically you could say Estoy en la página del tercer libro verde, but the meaning changes.
Estoy en la tercera página del libro verde.
→ I’m on the third page of the green book.Estoy en la página del tercer libro verde.
→ I’m on the page of the third green book
(implies there are several green books, and you mean the third one in some order).
So in your original sentence, tercera modifies página.
In the changed sentence, tercer modifies libro. The focus of “third” moves from the page to the book.
The sentence Estoy en la tercera página del libro verde. is perfectly natural and understood in both Spain and Latin America.
Minor regional notes:
- In everyday Latin American speech you might also hear la tercer página, but la tercera página is safe and correct everywhere.
- Pronunciation may differ by country, but the wording itself is standard.
So you can use this sentence without worrying about region.