Esa botella está en la mesa.

That bottle is on the table.

Breakdown of Esa botella está en la mesa.

• estar: to be
• la mesa: the table
• en: on
• esa: that

Questions & Answers about Esa botella está en la mesa.

What is esa in this sentence and how do Spanish demonstrative adjectives work?

esa is a demonstrative adjective meaning “that” (feminine, singular). Demonstrative adjectives in Spanish agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. There are three proximity levels:

• este / esta – “this” (near the speaker)
• ese / esa – “that” (near the listener or at a medium distance)
• aquel / aquella – “that over there” (far from both speaker and listener)

Why isn’t esta used instead of esa?

esta (without accent) would mean “this” (something very close to the speaker). We use esa when the object is not in our immediate vicinity—perhaps it’s nearer to the listener or just not right next to us. If the bottle were right in my hand, I’d say esta botella, not esa botella.

Why does está have an accent mark?

The word está (with an accent) is the third-person singular present of the verb estar (“to be”). Without the accent—esta—it would be read as the demonstrative adjective “this” (feminine). The accent mark distinguishes the verb form from the demonstrative.

Why do we use está (from estar) here instead of es (from ser)?