La empresa lanzó el producto.

Because empresa is a feminine singular noun in Spanish, so it normally takes the feminine singular definite article la.

• la empresa = the company
• el producto = the product

Unlike English, Spanish uses definite articles more regularly, and every noun has grammatical gender, so the article has to match the noun:

• la for feminine singular
• el for masculine singular

Here, empresa is feminine, even though it does not refer to a female person.

Because producto is a masculine singular noun, so it takes el.

A very common pattern is:

• nouns ending in -o are often masculine
• nouns ending in -a are often feminine

So:

• la empresa
• el producto

This is a pattern, not a perfect rule, but it works here.

Lanzó is the preterite tense, third person singular, from the verb lanzar.

So it means:

• he/she/it launched
• the company launched

The preterite is used for a completed action in the past. In this sentence, the launch is presented as a finished event.

Breakdown:

• infinitive: lanzar = to launch
• stem: lanz-
• preterite ending for él/ella/usted: -ó
• result: lanzó

The accent mark is important because it distinguishes lanzó from lanzo.

• lanzó = he/she/it launched or you launched (formal usted)
• lanzo = I launch / I am launching

So the accent is not optional; it changes the form and meaning.

It also helps show the stress:

• lan-ZÓ

Because Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed. The verb ending already tells you the grammatical person.

In lanzó, the ending tells you it is:

• he
• she
• it
• or usted

Since the subject is explicitly stated as la empresa, there is no need to add a pronoun.

Spanish prefers:

• La empresa lanzó el producto.

rather than:

• La empresa ella lanzó el producto. ❌

Yes, you could, if the subject is already clear from context.

Spanish often omits subjects, so:

• Lanzó el producto. = [He/She/It/The company] launched the product.

But without context, it is less clear who did the action. Adding La empresa makes the sentence specific and natural.

This is the most neutral and common Spanish word order:

subject + verb + object

• La empresa = subject
• lanzó = verb
• el producto = direct object

This is similar to English:

• The company launched the product.

Spanish word order is a bit more flexible than English, but this version is the standard, straightforward one.

Yes, but changing the order usually changes the emphasis, not the basic meaning.

For example:

• La empresa lanzó el producto. = neutral
• El producto lo lanzó la empresa. = puts more emphasis on the product or on the company as the one that launched it

For learners, the original order is the safest and most natural one to use.

No. Lanzar has a wider meaning than just to launch in the business sense. It can also mean to throw or to release depending on context.

Examples:

• lanzar un producto = to launch a product
• lanzar una campaña = to launch a campaign
• lanzar una pelota = to throw a ball

So its core idea is something like to send out, to put into circulation, or to set in motion, depending on the situation.

In standard Spanish from Spain, z is pronounced like the th in think.

So lanzó is pronounced approximately like:

• lan-THO

More precisely:

• la as in lah
• nzó with a th sound for z
• stress on the last syllable because of the accent: lan-THÓ

In many parts of Latin America, z is pronounced like an s, so there it would sound more like lan-SO.

Because grammatical gender in Spanish is not the same as biological sex.

A noun can be:

• masculine or
• feminine

and that is simply part of how the language works. Empresa is grammatically feminine, so it uses la, even though a company is not literally female.

This is very common in Spanish:

• la mesa = table
• la ciudad = city
• el libro = book
• el problema = problem

The gender affects articles and adjectives, not real-world sex in most cases.

Yes. Lanzó and lanzaba are both past forms, but they are used differently.

• lanzó = preterite → a completed action
• lanzaba = imperfect → an ongoing, repeated, or background action in the past

So:

• La empresa lanzó el producto. = The company launched the product.
  This sounds like one completed event.

• La empresa lanzaba productos nuevos cada año. = The company used to launch new products every year.
  This suggests repeated or habitual action.

In your sentence, lanzó is used because the launch is seen as a single finished event.