El gato no es tan grande.

Breakdown of El gato no es tan grande.

el gato
the cat
ser
to be
grande
big
tan
so
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Questions & Answers about El gato no es tan grande.

Why do we use el instead of la when talking about gato?
Because gato is a masculine noun, so it needs the masculine article el instead of the feminine article la.
Why do we use es and not está?
We use es for an inherent characteristic (being big or not). Está would suggest a temporary state or location, but here we’re talking about a defining quality of the cat.
Why do we say tan grande instead of tanto grande?
Tan is used directly before adjectives or adverbs to indicate degree (e.g., tan grande, tan rápido). Tanto is used with nouns (e.g., tanto dinero) or as part of expressions with verbs.
How would I say The cat is not that big compared to the dog?
In Spanish, you could say: El gato no es tan grande comparado con el perro, or El gato no es tan grande como el perro.
Is it common to hear this sentence in Spain?
Yes, it’s a perfectly common sentence. You can use tan this way all over the Spanish-speaking world, including Spain.

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