El estudiante nuevo estudia español en la escuela.

The new student studies Spanish at school.

Breakdown of El estudiante nuevo estudia español en la escuela.

• en: at
• la escuela: the school
• el estudiante: the student
• nuevo: new
• estudiar: to study
• español: Spanish

Questions & Answers about El estudiante nuevo estudia español en la escuela.

Why do we use el instead of la for "estudiante"?

In Spanish, estudiante can be masculine or feminine. We use el when referring to a male student (el estudiante) and la when referring to a female student (la estudiante). Here, the sentence implies a male student.

Why is nuevo placed after estudiante?

Spanish adjectives can appear before or after the noun, though the default position is often after the noun. Saying el estudiante nuevo and el nuevo estudiante both mean "the new student," but placing the adjective at the end often emphasizes the characteristic "new."

Why is español not capitalized?

In Spanish, names of languages (for example, español, inglés, francés) are not capitalized, unlike in English. So we write español (with a lowercase e) rather than Español.

Why is estudia used, and not estudian or estudio?

Estudia is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb estudiar. It matches the subject el estudiante, which is a singular third-person noun. Thus, "El estudiante nuevo estudia" is correct.

Why do we say en la escuela instead of a la escuela?

In Spanish, en indicates a location (“in” or “at”). So estudia en la escuela translates as “studies at school.” By contrast, a la escuela would be used to indicate movement towards the school (e.g., va a la escuela, “he/she goes to school”).

Could we replace escuela with colegio?

Yes, in many parts of Spain, colegio can also mean “school,” often referring to a school at primary or secondary level. Escuela is more general, but in everyday speech you’ll often hear colegio used this way. Both are grammatically correct.