Caminar es una forma de ejercicio.

to be

Breakdown of Caminar es una forma de ejercicio.

• de: of
• el ejercicio: the exercise
• la forma: the form
• el caminar: the walking

Questions & Answers about Caminar es una forma de ejercicio.

Why is caminar used in the infinitive form here?

In Spanish, the infinitive is often used as a noun to talk about an action in a general sense. Just as in English you can say Walking is a form of exercise, in Spanish you use caminar (infinitive) in place of walking.

Why do we use es instead of está in this sentence?

Estar generally refers to temporary states or locations, while ser refers to inherent characteristics or identities. Since the sentence is describing a general truth or classification (that walking is a type of exercise), ser is the correct verb.

Could I say Caminar es una forma de ejercicios in plural?

It’s more natural to use the singular ejercicio here because it refers to the concept of exercise in a general sense, rather than multiple individual exercises. You might hear ejercicios (plural) in contexts where you’re referring to specific workout activities, but in this sentence, it’s more usual to say ejercicio in singular.

Can I use andar instead of caminar for this statement?

Yes, you could say Andar es una forma de ejercicio, and people would understand you perfectly well. However, caminar is more commonly used in standard Spanish to mean to walk in a general sense, while andar can sometimes imply to walk around or to move about without a fixed direction.

Why do we say una forma de ejercicio instead of una forma para ejercicio?

In Spanish, the construction una forma de + noun is typical when describing a way or method of doing something. Using para in that position would sound unnatural and is not the standard phrasing. De introduces the concept of what kind of thing or type of activity it is.