El vaso está lleno.

The glass is full.

Breakdown of El vaso está lleno.

• estar: to be
• el vaso: the glass
• lleno: full

Questions & Answers about El vaso está lleno.

Why is está used instead of es in El vaso está lleno?

In Spanish, ser and estar both mean “to be,” but they serve different purposes. Estar is used for temporary states, locations or conditions. Since “full” describes a temporary condition of the glass, you use está. If you tried El vaso es lleno, it would sound unnatural because you’d be treating “full” as an inherent trait rather than a state.

Could you say El vaso es lleno?

No. That construction is incorrect in Spanish. You must use está for states. Saying El vaso es lleno would make it sound like “full” is a permanent characteristic of the glass, which doesn’t fit how Spanish expresses conditions.

Why does the adjective lleno come after the noun vaso?

In Spanish, most descriptive adjectives follow the noun: silla roja, coche rápido, vaso lleno. Placing lleno before the noun (e.g. lleno vaso) is either poetic or archaic. You’ll virtually always hear it after the noun in everyday speech.

How does lleno change with gender and number?