Los bomberos llegan rápido cuando hay un incendio en un edificio alto.

Firefighters arrive quickly when there is a fire in a tall building.

Breakdown of Los bomberos llegan rápido cuando hay un incendio en un edificio alto.

• en: in
• llegar: to arrive
• cuando: when
• rápido: fast
• haber: there to be
• el edificio: the building
• el bombero: the firefighter
• el incendio: the fire
• alto: tall

Questions & Answers about Los bomberos llegan rápido cuando hay un incendio en un edificio alto.

Why does the sentence say “Los bomberos” and not just “Bomberos”?

In Spanish, you often use the definite article (el, la, los, las) in general statements about a whole group.

• Los bomberos llegan rápido… = Firefighters (in general) arrive quickly…
• If you removed the article and said Bomberos llegan rápido…, it would sound incomplete or unnatural in standard Spanish.

So “Los bomberos” here doesn’t mean these specific firefighters, but firefighters as a group.

Why is “bomberos” plural instead of singular like “el bombero”?

Because we’re talking about firefighters in general, not one specific firefighter.

• Los bomberos llegan rápido… = Firefighters arrive quickly… (general fact)
• El bombero llega rápido… = The firefighter arrives quickly… (one specific firefighter)

Services like firefighters, police, etc. are commonly referred to in the plural in Spanish:

• Los médicos ayudan a sus pacientes. – Doctors help their patients.
• Los policías patrullan la ciudad. – Police officers patrol the city.

Why isn’t there a subject pronoun like “ellos” before “llegan”?

In Spanish, you usually omit subject pronouns when the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.

• Llegan clearly shows 3rd person plural (they).
• The noun los bomberos is present, so it’s perfectly clear who is arriving.

Ellos los bomberos llegan rápido… would be wrong. Ellos llegan rápido… would be correct, but you only need ellos if you’re emphasizing they as opposed to someone else.

What tense is “llegan”, and is it more like “arrive” or “are arriving”?

Llegan is the present simple (present indicative).

• Literally: they arrive
• But Spanish present simple often covers what English says with both:
  • Firefighters *arrive quickly…*
  • Firefighters *are arriving quickly…* (as a general habit)

Here it expresses a general truth / habitual action, so you would normally translate it as:

• Firefighters arrive quickly when there is a fire in a tall building.

Why is it “llegan” and not “vienen”?

Both llegar and venir can relate to “coming” or “arriving,” but they’re used differently:

• Llegar = to arrive somewhere (focus on the destination).
• Venir = to come (towards the speaker) (focus on movement toward “here”).

In this sentence, we’re talking about firefighters arriving at the scene of a fire, not necessarily coming toward the speaker. So:

• Los bomberos llegan rápido… = The firefighters arrive quickly…

  Using vienen would shift the focus more toward them coming here, which is not the point of the general statement.

Why is “rápido” used instead of “rápidamente”? Isn’t “rápido” an adjective?

Rápido can be both:

• an adjective:
  
  • un coche rápido – a fast car
• an adverb (how they arrive):
  
  • Los bomberos llegan rápido. – The firefighters arrive quickly.

In everyday Spanish, especially in Latin America, people very often use rápido as the adverb instead of rápidamente.

Rápidamente is correct but sounds more formal or bookish:

• Los bomberos llegan rápidamente… (formal)
• Los bomberos llegan rápido… (natural, everyday speech)

Why is it “cuando hay” and not “cuando es” or “cuando está”?

Hay comes from the verb haber and means “there is / there are.”

• cuando hay un incendio = when there is a fire

You wouldn’t use:

• cuando es un incendio – when it is a fire (doesn’t fit the idea of “there is a fire happening”)
• cuando está un incendio – sounds wrong in this context

Use hay whenever you’d say “there is/are” in English:

• Hay un incendio. – There is a fire.
• Hay un gato en el jardín. – There is a cat in the garden.

Why is it “un incendio” and not “el incendio”?

Un is the indefinite article: a / an. El is the definite article: the.

Here we’re speaking in general about any fire in a tall building:

• cuando hay un incendio en un edificio alto
  = when there is a fire in a tall building (not a specific one already known)

If you said el incendio, it would sound like you’re referring to:

• a specific fire already known in the context
  (el incendio that we already talked about)

What’s the difference between “incendio” and “fuego”?

Both relate to “fire,” but they’re used differently:

• Incendio = a destructive fire, usually uncontrolled, like a fire in a building, forest, car, etc.
  • Hay un incendio en el edificio. – There’s a (dangerous) fire in the building.
• Fuego =
  • the element fire in general, or
  • a flame / campfire / cooking fire
  • Me gusta el fuego de la chimenea. – I like the (fire in the) fireplace.
  • Pon el agua al fuego. – Put the water on the fire/stove.

For “a fire (emergency) in a building”, incendio is the natural word.

Why is it “en un edificio alto” and not “a un edificio alto” or “por un edificio alto”?

The preposition en usually corresponds to “in / on / at” and is used for being inside or within a place:

• en un edificio alto = in a tall building

Other options would change the meaning:

• a un edificio alto – to a tall building (movement toward the building, not location of the fire)
• por un edificio alto – could mean around/through/beside a tall building, not inside it.

Since the fire occurs inside the building, en is the correct preposition.

Why is it “edificio alto” and not “alto edificio”?

In Spanish, adjectives usually come after the noun:

• un edificio alto – a tall building
  (edificio = building, alto = tall)

Alto edificio is not the neutral, everyday way to say “tall building.”
Putting alto before the noun is possible but usually:

• sounds literary or poetic, or
• slightly changes the nuance (more emotional / stylistic, not just descriptive).

So the normal, neutral word order is:

• un edificio alto

Does “alto” have to agree with “edificio” in gender and number?

Yes. In Spanish, adjectives agree with the noun in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural).

• un edificio alto – a tall building (masculine, singular)
• unos edificios altos – tall buildings (masculine, plural)
• una casa alta – a tall house (feminine, singular)
• unas casas altas – tall houses (feminine, plural)

In the sentence:

• edificio is masculine, singular → alto is masculine, singular too.

Why is the verb after “cuando” in the present tense, not the future (like “llegarán”)?

In Spanish, when you talk about general facts or habits with cuando (when), you normally use the present tense in both clauses:

• Los bomberos llegan rápido cuando hay un incendio…
  • literally: Firefighters arrive quickly when there is a fire…

Even if in English you might sometimes use future:

• Firefighters *will arrive quickly when there is a fire…*

Spanish still prefers the present for these general, time-based facts.

Can I start the sentence with “Cuando hay…” instead of “Los bomberos…”?

Yes, you can reverse the order:

• Los bomberos llegan rápido cuando hay un incendio en un edificio alto.
• Cuando hay un incendio en un edificio alto, los bomberos llegan rápido.

Both are correct and mean the same thing.
When the cuando-clause comes first, you normally add a comma:

• Cuando hay un incendio en un edificio alto, los bomberos llegan rápido.