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
• la botella: the bottle

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)?

Spanish uses ser and estar for different concepts:

• ser describes inherent or permanent traits (e.g. “Ella es alta.”)
• estar describes temporary states, conditions, emotions, or location (e.g. “La silla está rota,” “Estoy cansado,” “El libro está en la mesa.”)

Because we’re talking about location, we use estar → está en la mesa.

What does the preposition en mean here? Can I use sobre or encima de instead?

• en can translate as “in,” “on,” or “at,” depending on context.
• sobre and encima de specifically mean “on top of.”

All three are grammatically correct:

• La botella está en la mesa. (idiomatic, very common)
• La botella está sobre la mesa. (more formal)
• La botella está encima de la mesa. (emphasizes “on top”)

Why do we say la mesa with an article? Can we omit it?

In Spanish, you normally include the definite article before a noun when specifying location or referring to a specific object:

• Correct: Está en la mesa.
• Incorrect: Está en mesa.

Also, mesa is a feminine noun, so you use la (singular feminine definite article).

Could I invert the word order and say “Está esa botella en la mesa”?

Yes, inversion is possible but changes the emphasis or style:

• Standard: Esa botella está en la mesa. (neutral statement)
• Inverted: Está esa botella en la mesa. (more poetic, rhetorical, or used in questions for surprise)

Spanish defaults to Subject–Verb–(Complement), so the standard word order is most common.

How do I pronounce botella, especially the b and ll?

• b in Spanish is softer than English “b” when it appears between vowels—it sounds a bit like a cross between “b” and “v.”
• ll in most of Spain sounds like the English “y” in “yes.”

So botella is pronounced roughly bo-te-‘ya (IPA: /boˈteʝa/).