El cachorro duerme.

to sleep

Breakdown of El cachorro duerme.

• el cachorro: the puppy

Questions & Answers about El cachorro duerme.

Why is it el cachorro and not just cachorro?

In Spanish, it is very common to use the definite article with nouns when talking about a specific thing: el cachorro = the puppy.

You can also say just cachorro in some contexts, but El cachorro duerme is the normal full sentence for The puppy is sleeping / sleeps.

• el = the for a singular masculine noun
• cachorro = puppy

Why is el masculine? Are all puppies masculine in Spanish?

Not necessarily. Cachorro is a masculine noun form, so it takes el.

• el cachorro = the male puppy / the puppy (masculine form)
• la cachorra = the female puppy

Sometimes Spanish uses the masculine form as a general or unspecified form, especially if the sex is unknown or unimportant.

What does cachorro mean exactly? Is it the same as perro?

Not exactly.

• perro = dog
• cachorro = puppy, cub, or young animal

So cachorro emphasizes that the animal is young. In this sentence, it means puppy.