El pasaje es breve.

The passage is brief.

Breakdown of El pasaje es breve.

• ser: to be
• breve: brief
• el pasaje: the passage

Questions & Answers about El pasaje es breve.

Why is it el pasaje and not la pasaje?

Because pasaje is a masculine singular noun in Spanish, so it takes the masculine singular definite article el.

• el pasaje = the passage
• un pasaje = a passage

This is something you usually just have to learn with the noun.

What does es mean here?

Es is the third-person singular form of the verb ser.

So:

• ser = to be
• es = is

In El pasaje es breve, es means is.

Why is it es and not está?

Spanish has two main verbs for to be: ser and estar.

Here, ser is used because breve describes a quality or characteristic of the passage, not a temporary state or location.

• es breve = it is brief / short
• está breve would sound wrong in normal Spanish

So this is a classic ser use: describing what something is like.