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Questions & Answers about El estudiante es alto.
Why do we use el before estudiante?
In Spanish, most singular, countable nouns need an article. El is the masculine definite article (“the”) and matches estudiante when you’re talking about a specific, male student. If you meant “a student,” you’d say un estudiante.
Why is the verb ser used instead of estar?
Ser describes inherent or permanent characteristics (like height), nationality, identity, or time. Estar is for temporary states, locations, or ongoing actions. Since height is viewed as a stable trait, Spanish uses ser: es alto.
Why does alto come after estudiante instead of before it?
The typical word order in Spanish is noun + adjective. So descriptive adjectives like alto (“tall”) follow the noun. Putting most adjectives before the noun can change the nuance or sound poetic, but the normal order is el estudiante es alto.
How would I make this sentence feminine?
Switch both the article and adjective to the feminine form:
La estudiante es alta.
- La (feminine “the”)
- alta (feminine adjective ending in –a)
How do I pluralize the whole sentence?
Make article, noun, verb, and adjective agree in number:
Los estudiantes son altos.
- Los (plural “the”)
- estudiantes (noun + s)
- son (3rd-person plural of ser)
- altos (plural adjective + s)
Why does estudiante end in –e, yet it’s masculine here?
Nouns ending in –e can be masculine or feminine. You determine gender from the article or context. If it were a female student, the article/adjective change to la estudiante/alta, but the noun form stays estudiante.
Could I drop the article and just say Estudiante es alto?
No—unlike English, Spanish almost always requires an article (definite or indefinite) before singular, countable nouns. Omitting it sounds unnatural or ungrammatical in most contexts.