La fecha del viaje es importante.

to be

Breakdown of La fecha del viaje es importante.

• importante: important
• de: of
• la fecha: the date
• el viaje: the trip

Questions & Answers about La fecha del viaje es importante.

Why is del used instead of de el in this sentence?

In Spanish, the preposition de (of/from) combines with the masculine article el (the) and contracts into del. So if we had de + el viaje, it becomes del viaje. This doesn’t happen with the feminine article la (for instance, de + la would stay as de la).

How would I differentiate when to use es versus está?

Es is the verb ser in the third-person singular and it indicates a permanent or general characteristic. Calling something importante (important) is describing an essential property. Está, from the verb estar, often indicates location or a temporary state, so you’d see it in contexts like La fecha del viaje está confirmada ("The trip date is confirmed"), where we talk about a current condition.

Is there a difference between fecha and día in Spanish?

Yes. Fecha refers to a full date (often including day, month, and possibly year), as in "the date of an event." Día specifically means day, so it focuses on one discrete day of the week (Monday, Tuesday, etc.) or a specific point in time. In the sentence La fecha del viaje es importante, we’re talking about the specific date of the trip rather than just the day.

Could I say La fecha del viaje está importante?

That would sound unnatural in Spanish. Since importante expresses a characteristic rather than a state or condition, the correct verb is ser (conjugated as es). Using está with importante might suggest that being important is a temporary condition––unusual for something like a date.

Why do I see la fecha but also el día (one with la, the other with el)?

Spanish nouns have grammatical gender, which doesn’t always correspond to logical rules about masculinity or femininity. La fecha happens to be a feminine noun, and el día is masculine. It’s just something that learners must memorize, noticing patterns and exceptions along the way.