Cocino el pollo en la olla.

I cook the chicken in the pot.

Breakdown of Cocino el pollo en la olla.

• yo: I
• cocinar: to cook
• en: in
• el pollo: the chicken
• la olla: the pot

Questions & Answers about Cocino el pollo en la olla.

Why is the verb form "cocino" used without a subject pronoun, and how does it show who is performing the action?

“Cocino” is the first-person singular (yo) form of the regular verb cocinar. In Spanish, the verb ending clearly indicates the subject, so it’s common to omit the pronoun "yo" and yet understand that it means "I cook."

Why is the definite article "el" required before "pollo," and can it be omitted like sometimes in English?

In Spanish, nouns almost always need an article. Here, "el pollo" means "the chicken," and the use of the definite article is necessary even if the meaning is generic. Unlike English, Spanish rarely leaves out the article with common nouns.

What does the preposition "en" indicate in the phrase "en la olla"?

The preposition "en" indicates location. In this sentence, it tells us that the cooking is taking place "in the pot," specifying where the action happens.

Is "cocino" a regular verb form in Spanish, and how does cocinar conjugate in the present tense?

Yes, cocinar is a regular –AR verb. Its present tense conjugation is: yo cocino, tú cocinas, él/ella/usted cocina, nosotros/nosotras cocinamos, vosotros/vosotras cocináis, ellos/ellas/ustedes cocinan. "Cocino" comes directly from this pattern as the first-person singular form.

How could you modify the sentence if you wanted to emphasize that you are cooking right now rather than as a routine action?

To emphasize an action in progress, you would use the present continuous. You could say, Estoy cocinando el pollo en la olla, which translates to "I am cooking the chicken in the pot," highlighting that the action is happening at this very moment.

Why is the pot referred to as "la olla" instead of "el olla"?

Every noun in Spanish has a gender, and "olla" is a feminine noun. That’s why it takes the feminine definite article "la," forming la olla as required by Spanish grammatical rules.