Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Hay otras personas en la comunidad que están estudiando español. - There are other people in the community who are studying Spanish.

Hay otras personas… = There are other people…
You would not say: Son otras personas… for “There are other people…”. Ser/estar on their own don’t mean “there is/are.”
Están otras personas… sounds wrong in this context; estar
- subject normally needs a more specific location or context already given, not the introduction of new, unspecified people.

So hay is the natural choice when you introduce the existence of something/someone:
Hay otras personas en la comunidad… = There are other people in the community…

Why is it otras personas and not otros personas?

Because adjectives in Spanish must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

persona is feminine singular → la persona
personas is feminine plural → las personas

So the adjective otro (“other/another”) must also be feminine plural:

otra persona (other person – feminine singular)
otras personas (other people – feminine plural)

If the noun were masculine plural, you’d use otros:

otros estudiantes (other students – masculine or mixed group)

If the group includes men, why is it still personas, which is feminine?

In Spanish, la persona (person) is grammatically feminine, regardless of the actual gender of the person:

una persona alta can be a tall man or a tall woman grammatically called persona (feminine word).

When you talk about people using personas, the word stays feminine even for mixed groups or all men:

dos personas = two people (could be 2 men, 2 women, or mixed)
otras personas = other people (gender of the actual people is irrelevant for grammar)

So the adjective must match the word (personas, feminine plural), not the biological sex of the people.

Why is it en la comunidad and not en el comunidad?

Because comunidad is a feminine noun in Spanish:

la comunidad (the community)
una comunidad (a community)

So you must use la instead of el:

en la comunidad = in the community

Also, en here means “in” (or “within”), which is the natural preposition:

en la comunidad = in the community
de la comunidad = of the community / from the community (different meaning)

What does que mean here, and is it “who” or “that” in English?

In this sentence, que is a relative pronoun meaning “who” or “that”:

…personas en la comunidad que están estudiando español.
= …people in the community who are studying Spanish.

In English, we usually say “who” for people, but in Spanish que is the default relative pronoun for both people and things in this kind of clause:

La persona que vive aquí = The person who lives here
El libro que compré = The book that I bought

So que = “who/that” depending on context, and both are fine translations here.

Could you drop que están and just say: Hay otras personas en la comunidad estudiando español?

You can say:

Hay otras personas en la comunidad estudiando español.

This is understood and used by native speakers, especially in speech. The phrase estudiando español then functions like an extra descriptive phrase (“studying Spanish”).

However:

Hay otras personas en la comunidad que están estudiando español.

sounds more explicit and structured, with a clear relative clause (que están estudiando español = “who are studying Spanish”).
For learners, the version with que están is often safer and clearer grammatically.

Why is it están estudiando and not just estudian?

Están estudiando is the present progressive: estar + gerundio, used mainly for actions that are happening right now or around the current time:

están estudiando español = they are studying Spanish (right now / currently)

Estudian is the simple present:

estudian español = they study Spanish (as a habit, generally)

In Spanish:

For a current, ongoing action: están estudiando español.
For a regular activity or fact: estudian español.

English uses the progressive more broadly than Spanish, so Spanish speakers use estudian more often than English uses “they study.” But in this sentence, talking about others who are currently studying Spanish, están estudiando fits very well.

Why do we use estar (están) and not ser here?

Estar is used for temporary states or ongoing actions, including the present progressive:

estar + gerundio = to be doing something
- están estudiando = they are studying

Ser is for more permanent characteristics, identity, origin, etc.:

son estudiantes = they are students (who they are)
son españoles = they are Spanish (nationality)

Studying is an activity, not an inherent characteristic, so we use estar:

✅ están estudiando español
❌ son estudiando español (incorrect)

What is estudiando grammatically, and how is it formed?

Estudiando is the gerund (or present participle) of estudiar.

To form the Spanish gerund:

For -ar verbs: stem + -ando
- estudiar → estudiando
- hablar → hablando
For -er / -ir verbs: stem + -iendo
- comer → comiendo
- vivir → viviendo

Then you combine it with estar to form the present progressive:

estoy estudiando = I am studying
están estudiando = they are studying

Why is español not capitalized here?

In Spanish, names of languages and nationalities are not capitalized, unless they start a sentence:

español (Spanish – the language)
inglés (English)
francés (French)

So you write:

están estudiando español.
but
Español … if it’s at the beginning of a sentence.

This is a consistent spelling rule in Spanish.

Should there be an article before español, like el español?

Both are possible, but the usual, most natural form in this context is without the article:

están estudiando español = they are studying Spanish

You might use el español when talking about the language in a more general or abstract way:

El español es una lengua muy hablada.
Spanish is a widely spoken language.

In everyday speech about learning languages, Spanish often omits the article:

Estudio inglés y español. = I study English and Spanish.

Is there a difference between otras personas and más personas?

Yes:

otras personas = other people, different from some people already mentioned or implied.
- There are other people (not the ones we’ve been talking about) in the community who are studying Spanish.
más personas = more people, focusing on quantity / additional number.
- There are more people (in addition to some number already known) in the community who are studying Spanish.

So otras emphasizes difference; más emphasizes additional quantity.

How do you pronounce hay, español, and están?

Rough guide using English-like sounds:

hay
- Pronounced like English “eye”.
- One syllable: [ai].
español
- Break it: es-pa-ñol
- e as in “met” (short e)
- ñ like the “ny” in “canyon” → nya sound
- Final ol like “ole” but shorter: ohl
- Approx: es-pa-NYOL.
están
- es like “es” in “escape” (but shorter)
- tan like “tahn” with a short open a
- Stress on the second syllable because of the accent: es-TÁN
- Approx: es-TAHN.

These approximations are just to get you close; Spanish vowels are short and pure (no diphthongs like in English “say,” “go,” etc.).