La capital está lejos.

to be

Breakdown of La capital está lejos.

• lejos: far
• la capital: the country's main city

Questions & Answers about La capital está lejos.

Why is it la capital and not el capital?

Because capital changes meaning with the article:

• la capital = capital city
• el capital = capital, money, assets

So in this sentence, la capital is feminine because it means the capital city.

Why do we use está instead of es?

Spanish uses estar for location, and lejos describes where something is in relation to something else.

So:

• La capital está lejos. = the capital is far away.

Using ser here would sound wrong in normal Spanish. A good rule is:

• ser = what something is
• estar = where something is / how it is

Since this sentence is about location or distance, estar is the natural choice.

What does the accent mark in está do?