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Questions & Answers about El mar es profundo.
Why do we say el mar instead of just mar or a sea?
In English you can say “Sea is deep” (no article) or “A sea is deep” (indefinite). In Spanish, when you make a general statement about a whole category, you normally use the definite article el. So El mar es profundo means “(The) sea is deep” as a general truth. Saying just Mar es profundo would sound ungrammatical; Un mar es profundo would feel like you’re talking about one specific sea.
Why do we use es (from ser) instead of está (from estar)?
Spanish has two verbs for “to be.” Ser (here es) describes essential or permanent characteristics: colour, shape, size, depth, identity. Estar describes temporary states or locations. Depth is seen as an intrinsic quality of the sea, so you use ser: El mar es profundo. If you spoke of a particular part of the sea being deep right now (like a trench), you might hear está profundo, but that’s rare.
Why is the adjective placed after the noun? Could we say profundo mar?
Spanish normally places descriptive adjectives after the noun: mar profundo. Placing the adjective before (as in profundo mar) is grammatically possible but very poetic or emphatic, and it changes the rhythm or tone. In everyday speech and writing you’ll almost always see El mar es profundo.
Why does profundo end in -o? Does it have to agree with mar?
Yes. Spanish adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Mar is masculine singular, so the adjective takes its masculine singular form profundo (-o ending). If the noun were feminine (e.g. la cueva), you’d say la cueva es profunda, with -a.
Can we use hondo instead of profundo to say “deep”?
Yes. Profundo and hondo both mean “deep,” but profundo is more formal or literary. Hondo is a bit more colloquial and often used in compounds (e.g. abismo hondo). In most cases profundo is the safer choice.
Why is mar masculine? Can we ever say la mar?
The common word mar is grammatically masculine, so it takes el. However, in poetry or in certain nautical/jargon contexts, speakers sometimes use la mar, treating it as feminine to evoke emotion or tradition. In standard prose or conversation, though, you’ll virtually always see el mar.
How would you make this sentence plural: “The seas are deep”?
You change both noun and adjective to plural: Los mares son profundos. Notice you keep ser (son), the article becomes los, mar becomes mares, and profundo becomes profundos.
Could you omit the article in headlines or bullet points?
In newspaper headlines or very terse captions you might see Mar es profundo, but that’s a stylistic exception. In normal sentences always include the article: El mar es profundo.