Es muy cómodo sentarse en el sofá cuando estamos cansados.

to be

Breakdown of Es muy cómodo sentarse en el sofá cuando estamos cansados.

• muy: very
• estar: to be
• cuando: when
• nosotros: we
• en: on
• cansado: tired
• cómodo: comfortable
• el sofá: the sofa

Questions & Answers about Es muy cómodo sentarse en el sofá cuando estamos cansados.

Why do we use 'es' in 'Es muy cómodo' instead of 'está'?

In Spanish, ser is often used to describe inherent qualities or characteristics, such as how comfortable something is in general. Since the sentence indicates a general statement about the sofa's comfort level, es (from ser) fits better than está (from estar), which is used for states or conditions that are more temporary or variable.

Why do we use the reflexive form 'sentarse' instead of 'sentar'?

When you say sentarse, it means to seat oneself, emphasizing the action you're performing on yourself. Sentar, on the other hand, would generally require you to specify who or what is being seated (e.g., sentar a alguien). In this context, "sentarse en el sofá" is the natural way to express that one is going to sit down on the sofa.

Why do we say 'en el sofá' instead of something like 'al sofá'?

In Spanish, 'en' usually indicates a location or place where an action happens — to sit on the sofa. Using 'a' would imply direction or motion toward something, and it's less common for indicating the specific place of sitting. So 'en el sofá' is the right preposition to show that you're sitting on it.

Why do we use 'estamos cansados' and not 'somos cansados'?

Ser is used for more permanent states or inherent characteristics, while estar is used for conditions or states that can change. Feeling tired is typically a temporary state, so estamos cansados (we are tired) is correct and sounds natural. Somos cansados would imply that being tired is part of who we are in a more permanent sense, which would be unnatural.

What does 'cómodo' modify here, and why is it masculine?

'Cómodo' refers to the experience of performing the action of sitting on the sofa; in other words, it modifies the general concept of sentarse en el sofá. It’s masculine in agreement with sentarse taken as a neuter or general idea (the idea of sitting down can be treated like a masculine noun or concept in Spanish), and it’s also common to see neutral uses of an adjective in its masculine form when describing an action.