El documento es muy importante para mi familia.

The document is very important for my family.

Breakdown of El documento es muy importante para mi familia.

• la familia: the family
• ser: to be
• importante: important
• mi: my
• muy: very
• para: for
• el documento: the document

Questions & Answers about El documento es muy importante para mi familia.

Why do we say El documento instead of Un documento?

Using el indicates that we’re talking about a specific document that both the speaker and the listener are aware of. In contrast, un would suggest an unspecified or generic document.

Why do we use es rather than está here?

In Spanish, ser (es) is used for inherent or permanent qualities. If you consider the importance of something as an intrinsic characteristic, you use es. Estar is typically used for more temporary conditions or locations, so it doesn’t fit the intended meaning here.

Why do we say muy importante and not something like importante muy?

In Spanish, adverbs like muy (very) usually come before adjectives, so we say muy importante. Also, importante doesn’t change form for gender or number, so it remains importante even if the noun is feminine or plural.

What role does para play in this sentence?

Para often indicates purpose, destination, or the recipient of something. In this context, para mi familia means the document’s importance is directed toward or affecting the speaker’s family. It shows who benefits from the importance.

Why is mi spelled without an accent here?

Mi without an accent means “my” and is a possessive adjective. Mí (with an accent) is a pronoun used typically after a preposition (e.g. “para mí”), which is not the case here since we’re simply stating “my family.”