Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Mi padre está divorciado y ahora vive solo en un apartamento pequeño. - My father is divorced and now lives alone in a small apartment.

“está divorciado” uses estar to emphasize a current state or condition.
- It’s like saying: He is (currently) divorced; that’s his present situation.
- Marital status is often treated as a state with estar.
“es divorciado” with ser presents it more as a defining characteristic or a more permanent label.
- It can sound like: He is a divorced man (as a category / label).

In everyday Latin American Spanish, “está divorciado” is very common and sounds natural when simply describing someone’s marital status.

Why is “está” written with an accent, and what’s the difference between “está”, “esta”, and “ésta”?

está (with accent) = third‑person singular of “estar” (he/she/it is; you [usted] are):
- Mi padre está divorciado. – My father is divorced.
esta (no accent) = the feminine demonstrative adjective “this”:
- Esta casa es grande. – This house is big.
ésta (with accent) used to be the feminine demonstrative pronoun “this one”, but the RAE (official Spanish authority) now generally recommends esta without accent, unless there is real ambiguity:
- (Ésta / Esta) es mía. – This one is mine.

So in your sentence, está must have the accent mark because it’s a verb form.

Why is it “divorciado” and not “divorciada”?

“Divorciado” is an adjective that must agree with the gender and number of the person it describes:

Mi padre está divorciado. – My father is divorced. (masculine singular)
Mi madre está divorciada. – My mother is divorced. (feminine singular)
Mis padres están divorciados. – My parents are divorced. (masculine plural / mixed group)
Mis tías están divorciadas. – My aunts are divorced. (feminine plural)

Here, padre is masculine, so the adjective is divorciado.

Why is it “vive solo” and not something like “vive solamente”?

solo and solamente are different:

solo (as an adjective/adverb in this sentence) means “alone”:
- Mi padre vive solo. – My father lives alone.
solamente is an adverb meaning “only”:
- Mi padre vive solamente con mi abuela. – My father lives only with my grandmother.

So:

vive solo = he lives by himself, with no one else.
vive solamente would mean he only lives (does nothing else) or he only lives [somewhere / with someone], which is not the idea here.

In this sentence, we want “alone”, so solo is correct.

Could the word “solo” mean “only” here?

Not in this position and context.

Spanish solo can have two meanings:

alone (adjective/adverb)
only (adverb, similar to solamente)

But the meaning depends strongly on context and word order:

Mi padre vive solo en un apartamento pequeño.
→ My father lives *alone in a small apartment.*
Mi padre solo vive en un apartamento pequeño.
→ My father *only lives in a small apartment (and nowhere else).*

In your sentence, the natural reading is “alone”. To make “only” clear, you’d usually put solo before the verb (solo vive) or before the phrase you’re limiting.

Why is it “vive” (simple present) and not “está viviendo”?

Both are grammatically correct, but they don’t mean exactly the same:

vive (simple present) = a general, habitual situation:
- Mi padre vive solo... – My father lives alone... (this is how he lives, generally, nowadays)
está viviendo (present progressive) = an action happening around now, often with a more temporary feel:
- Mi padre está viviendo solo en un apartamento pequeño.
  – My father is living alone in a small apartment (for now / temporarily).

In Spanish, the simple present is used much more often than English “simple present” for current ongoing situations, so “vive” is the default, natural choice here.

Why is the adjective “pequeño” placed after “apartamento”?

In Spanish, adjectives usually go after the noun:

un apartamento pequeño – a small apartment

Placing the adjective after the noun is the default and neutral in most cases.

Sometimes you can put certain adjectives before the noun to add a slightly different nuance (often more subjective, emotional, or stylistic):

un pequeño apartamento can sound a bit more subjective or emotional, like a modest little apartment rather than just factually a small apartment.

Both orders are possible here, but “un apartamento pequeño” is the most straightforward, neutral description.

Is there any difference between “apartamento” and “departamento” in Latin America?

Both words mean “apartment”, but usage varies by country:

apartamento is widely understood across Latin America.
departamento is very common in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and some other countries.

Examples:

Mexico: Vive en un departamento pequeño.
Colombia: Vive en un apartamento pequeño.

In your sentence, “apartamento” is perfectly fine and widely understood.

Why is the preposition “en” used: “vive solo en un apartamento pequeño” and not “a un apartamento” or something else?

In Spanish, when you talk about where someone lives or is located, you normally use en:

Vive en un apartamento. – He lives in an apartment.
Vive en la ciudad. – He lives in the city.
Vive en México. – He lives in Mexico.

a usually indicates movement or direction (to, toward):

Va a su apartamento. – He goes to his apartment.

Since the sentence describes location, not movement, en is the correct preposition: vive en un apartamento pequeño.

Could I say “Mi papá” instead of “Mi padre”? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say “Mi papá está divorciado y ahora vive solo...”. Both are correct.

padre = more formal or neutral, similar to father in English.
papá = more informal / affectionate, like dad.

In everyday conversation, many people would naturally say “mi papá”, but “mi padre” is very normal too, especially in more formal or written contexts.

Why is there no subject pronoun like “él” before “está” or “vive”?

Spanish is a “null subject” language: subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, etc.) can be omitted when the verb form already tells you who the subject is.

Mi padre está divorciado y ahora vive solo...
The subject is clearly “mi padre”, so you don’t need él.

You could say:

Mi padre está divorciado y ahora él vive solo...

But adding él here usually sounds unnecessary unless you want to contrast or emphasize the subject (e.g., “He, not someone else, lives alone”).

Does “ahora” always mean exactly “now”, like right this second?

ahora usually means “now”, but its time scale can be flexible:

It can mean right now, in this moment:
- Ahora estoy hablando contigo. – Right now I’m talking with you.
Or it can mean nowadays / at this point in his life:
- Mi padre está divorciado y ahora vive solo...
  → My father is divorced, and now he lives alone... (these days / in his current situation)

In this sentence, ahora refers to his current stage of life, not just this exact second.

Is there any difference between “Mi padre está divorciado y vive solo...” and “Mi padre está divorciado y ahora vive solo...”?

Yes, “ahora” adds a nuance of change in time:

Mi padre está divorciado y vive solo...
→ Just states two facts: he is divorced, and he lives alone.
Mi padre está divorciado y ahora vive solo...
→ Suggests a contrast with the past:
- Before, he used to live with someone (maybe your mother or the family),
- but now (after the divorce) he lives alone.

So “ahora” subtly highlights that this is his current situation compared to how things were before.