La encuesta reciente es interesante.

The recent survey is interesting.

Breakdown of La encuesta reciente es interesante.

• ser: to be
• interesante: interesting
• la encuesta: the survey
• reciente: recent

Questions & Answers about La encuesta reciente es interesante.

Why does the sentence use la and not el before encuesta?

Because encuesta is a feminine noun, so it takes the feminine definite article la.

• la encuesta = the survey
• el libro = the book
• la mesa = the table

In Spanish, nouns have grammatical gender, and the article (el / la) must agree with that gender, not with any logical concept in English.

How do I know that encuesta is feminine?

In many cases, nouns ending in -a are feminine, and encuesta follows that pattern.

General (but not absolute) rule:

• Nouns ending in -a → usually feminine: la casa, la pelota, la encuesta
• Nouns ending in -o → usually masculine: el carro, el perro

There are exceptions, but for encuesta, dictionaries mark it as feminine, so you use:

• la encuesta, una encuesta, esta encuesta, todas las encuestas, etc.

Why is reciente after encuesta, when in English recent goes before survey?

Spanish adjective placement is often after the noun, especially for descriptive adjectives.

• la encuesta reciente = the recent survey
• el libro interesante = the interesting book

So the normal, neutral order in Spanish is: > noun + adjective → encuesta reciente

English usually has: > adjective + noun → recent survey

Same idea, different word order.

Can I say La reciente encuesta es interesante instead? Is it wrong?

It’s not wrong; it’s grammatically correct and natural. However, placing the adjective before the noun can slightly change the emphasis or tone.

• La encuesta reciente es interesante.
  Neutral, descriptive: you’re just saying that the survey (which happens to be recent) is interesting.

• La reciente encuesta es interesante.
  Slightly more emphatic or stylistic, sometimes used in news, formal writing, or to highlight the fact that it’s the recent one (as opposed to older ones).

Both are okay in Latin American Spanish. Everyday speech more commonly uses the noun + adjective order.

Does reciente change form for gender or number?

Reciente:

• does not change for gender (same for masculine and feminine)
• does change for number (singular vs. plural)

Examples:

• la encuesta reciente (fem. singular)
• el informe reciente (masc. singular)
• las encuestas recientes (fem. plural)
• los informes recientes (masc. plural)

So the plural is recientes.

Why is it es interesante and not está interesante?

Because ser (es) usually expresses a more permanent or inherent characteristic, while estar often expresses a temporary state or condition.

• La encuesta reciente es interesante.
  Means the survey is, by nature or in general, interesting.

• La encuesta reciente está interesante.
  Sounds more like “The survey is (right now / at this point) interesting,” often more subjective, as if you’re reacting in the moment. It’s understandable, but es interesante is the standard way to describe something as interesting.

For describing how you see something in general, ser + adjective is the normal choice:

• La película es buena. (The movie is good.)
• El libro es largo. (The book is long.)
• La encuesta es interesante. (The survey is interesting.)

Could you drop the article and just say Encuesta reciente es interesante?

No, that would be unnatural and generally incorrect in standard Spanish.

Spanish almost always needs an article (or another determiner) with countable singular nouns:

• La encuesta reciente es interesante.
• Una encuesta reciente es interesante.
• Esa encuesta reciente es interesante.

Omitting the article here makes it sound incomplete or ungrammatical.

How would I say “A recent survey is interesting” instead of “The recent survey is interesting”?

Use the indefinite article una:

• Una encuesta reciente es interesante.
  = A recent survey is interesting.

Compare:

• La encuesta reciente es interesante. → The recent survey is interesting.
• Una encuesta reciente es interesante. → A recent survey is interesting.

How do I make the whole sentence plural, like “The recent surveys are interesting”?

You need to make the article, noun, adjective, and verb all plural:

• Las encuestas recientes son interesantes.

Breakdown:

• la → las (fem. singular → fem. plural)
• encuesta → encuestas
• reciente → recientes
• es → son
• interesante → interesantes

How do you pronounce La encuesta reciente es interesante?

Approximate pronunciation (Latin American neutral accent):

• La → lah
• encuesta → en-KWEH-stah
• reciente → reh-SYEN-teh (the c before i = s sound in Latin America)
• es → ehs
• interesante → een-teh-reh-SAN-teh (or in-teh-reh-SAN-teh; initial i like “ee”)

Notes:

• The h is always silent in Spanish (not used here, but useful generally).
• The u in encuesta is pronounced: cue = kwe.
• Stress naturally falls on:
  • enCUEsta
  • reCIENte
  • intereSANte

What is the difference between encuesta, sondeo, and estudio?

All can relate to gathering information, but they’re not the same:

• encuesta
  A survey/questionnaire: a set of questions asked to people.

  • Hicimos una encuesta sobre hábitos de consumo.
    We did a survey on consumption habits.

• sondeo
  Often a poll (especially opinion polls, political polls), sometimes a quick, less formal survey.

  • Según el último sondeo, el candidato va ganando.

• estudio
  A study/research project, usually broader and more academic or technical.

  • El estudio demuestra que la contaminación ha aumentado.

In this sentence, encuesta is the standard word for survey in Latin American Spanish.

Can I say muy interesante to mean “very interesting”? Where does muy go?

Yes. Muy (very) goes before the adjective:

• La encuesta reciente es muy interesante.
  = The recent survey is very interesting.

You can also use:

• bastante interesante = quite/pretty interesting
• realmente interesante = really interesting

Does interesante have a positive, negative, or neutral tone?

Usually it’s positive or politely positive, similar to English “interesting”:

• La encuesta reciente es interesante.
  → You find it engaging or worth paying attention to.

In context, like in English, it can be used diplomatically instead of saying something is “good” or “great”:

• La propuesta es… interesante.
  (Possible subtext: you’re not sure it’s good, but you don’t want to say it’s bad.)

But on its own, interesante is generally taken as a positive description.