El deporte es importante para la salud.

to be

Breakdown of El deporte es importante para la salud.

• importante: important
• para: for
• la salud: the health
• el deporte: the sport

Questions & Answers about El deporte es importante para la salud.

Why is it El deporte and not La deporte?

In Spanish, deporte is a masculine noun. That’s why it takes the masculine article el. Even though some words ending with -e can be feminine, this one is not.

Why do we say para la salud instead of por la salud?

Generally, para expresses a purpose or goal—here, the idea is that sports benefit our health. Por often signifies a cause or something done on behalf of something else. So, in this sentence, para la salud conveys “for the purpose of health.”

Is it common to use the singular El deporte when talking about sports in general?

Yes. In Spanish, the singular article and noun often stand for the entire concept. El deporte means “sports” in a general sense. You can also say Los deportes, but El deporte commonly appears in general statements like this.

Can I use es muy importante here, or does that change the meaning?

You can add muy for emphasis: El deporte es muy importante para la salud. It doesn't change the meaning significantly; it just stresses that it's very important rather than just important.

Is El deporte always referring to sports, or can it mean something else?

Generally, deporte refers to sports or physical activities. In idiomatic expressions, it might appear differently, but almost always it relates to some form of athletic or physical activity.