Cierra la puerta, por favor, y siéntate en el sofá para hablar.

Close the door, please, and sit on the sofa to talk.

Breakdown of Cierra la puerta, por favor, y siéntate en el sofá para hablar.

• por favor: please
• para: to
• el: the
• y: and
• cerrar: to close
• en: on
• el sofá: the sofa
• la puerta: the door
• hablar: to talk
• sentarse: to sit down

Questions & Answers about Cierra la puerta, por favor, y siéntate en el sofá para hablar.

Why is Cierra used instead of Cierras in this sentence?

Cierra is the imperative (command) form of the verb cerrar, which is used when telling someone directly to close something. In Spanish, for the informal second-person singular (tú), the imperative of cerrar is cierra. If you used cierras, that would simply be the present-tense form (you close), not the command.

Why do we say la puerta instead of el puerta?

In Spanish, nouns each have a grammatical gender: masculine or feminine. Puerta is a feminine noun, so the correct definite article is la, not el (which is used for masculine nouns).

What is the function of por favor in the middle of the sentence?

Por favor is the Spanish way to say "please". It’s often placed after a request or command as a polite addition. Including por favor softens the command and makes it more courteous.

Why is siéntate used instead of sientas?

Siéntate is the imperative form (command) of the reflexive verb sentarse (to sit down) for the informal second-person singular (tú). You add the reflexive pronoun -te at the end to indicate that the action is done by and for the speaker themselves (in this case, the person being addressed). Sientas is a different form (subjunctive present tense of sentir or second-person singular present tense of sentar without the reflexive) and wouldn’t mean “sit down.”

What is the difference between para hablar and por hablar here?

In this context, para hablar indicates the purpose or intention ("in order to talk"). If you said por hablar, it might suggest a reason or cause (“because of talking”), but that wouldn’t fit naturally with the idea of sitting on the sofa in order to have a conversation. Spanish commonly uses para to show the goal or objective of an action.

Why do we say en el sofá instead of en sofá?

In Spanish, we usually use the definite article when we refer to a specific object, such as a particular sofa. Since sofá is masculine, we use el as the article. If you just said en sofá without an article, it would sound incomplete. Using el also helps clearly identify the specific piece of furniture.