Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): La dueña de la granja está muy agradecida porque todos los invitados ayudan a recoger la mesa. - The female owner of the farm is very grateful because all the guests help to clear the table.

estar agradecida = to be (feel) grateful in this specific situation
ser agradecida = to be a generally grateful / appreciative person (a character trait)

Here, the owner is grateful because of what is happening right now (the guests helping), so it’s a temporary emotional state → estar is the natural choice:

La dueña está muy agradecida = The owner is (feeling) very grateful (right now).

If you said es muy agradecida, it would sound more like:

She is a very grateful / thankful person (in general).

Is agradecida an adjective or a past participle, and why does it end in -a?

Historically it comes from the past participle of agradecer, but in modern Spanish it works like a normal adjective: grateful, thankful.

The ending -a is there because adjectives have to agree in gender and number with the noun they describe:

la dueña → feminine singular
so: agradecida (feminine singular)

Other forms:

el dueño está agradecido (masculine singular)
las dueñas están agradecidas (feminine plural)
los dueños están agradecidos (masculine/mixed plural)

Why La dueña de la granja and not simply La granjera?

There’s a nuance in meaning:

la dueña de la granja = the owner of the farm
Focus on ownership/possession.
la granjera = the farmer (female)
Focus on her job / activity (she works the farm).

You can be the owner without working the land yourself. The sentence emphasizes that this person is the owner, not necessarily that she is a working farmer, so la dueña de la granja is more precise in that sense.

In context, la granjera would also be understandable, but slightly different in focus.

What’s the difference between granja, finca, and campo in Spain?

In Peninsular (European) Spanish, these words are related but not identical:

granja
A farm, especially associated with animals (cows, chickens, pigs, etc.) or a smaller agricultural unit. Also used for places like granja escuela (educational farm for kids).
finca
A rural property in general. It might be farmland, vineyards, olive groves, or even a country estate with a house. It doesn’t have to be a traditional farm with animals.
el campo
Literally the countryside. It can mean:
- rural areas as opposed to the city: Viven en el campo.
- sometimes, by context, a farm: Voy al campo (= I’m going to my land/farm in the country).

In this sentence, granja fits naturally as a specific, concrete farm.

Why is it todos los invitados and not just todos invitados?

In Spanish, todos (all) almost always takes a definite article when referring to a specific known group:

todos los invitados = all the guests (at this specific event)

Using todos invitados without the article is not standard here and sounds wrong in normal speech.

Some patterns:

Todos los niños están cansados. – All the children are tired.
Todas las personas llegaron a tiempo. – All the people arrived on time.

You would drop the article in other structures, like:

Son todos invitados. – They are all guests.

Why are male and female guests both invitados and not invitadas?

In Spanish, grammatical gender works like this in groups:

A group of only women → invitadas (feminine plural)
A group of only men → invitados (masculine plural)
A mixed group (men + women) → default to masculine plural, so invitados

So in this sentence:

todos los invitados is the standard way to talk about “all the guests” when you either:
- know the group is mixed, or
- don’t specify the genders.

If the context made it 100% clear that all guests were women, you would say todas las invitadas.

Why is it ayudan a recoger and not ayudan recoger?

The verb ayudar normally needs the preposition a before an infinitive:

ayudar a + infinitive

So:

ayudan a recoger – they help to clear
Nos ayudas a cocinar? – Will you help us cook?

Saying ayudar recoger (without a) is grammatically wrong in standard Spanish.

Compare:

Empiezan a comer. – They start to eat.
Vamos a estudiar. – We’re going to study.

Same pattern: verb + a + infinitive.

What exactly does recoger la mesa mean? Why not limpiar la mesa?

In Spain, recoger la mesa is a very common set phrase meaning:

to clear the table (after a meal):
pick up plates, glasses, cutlery, food, etc., and put everything away.

It does not mainly mean “clean” in the sense of wiping or scrubbing; it’s about putting things away / tidying up.

recoger = to pick up, to gather, to put away, to tidy
limpiar la mesa = to clean the table (wipe it with a cloth, remove dirt or stains)

Often both happen in sequence:

Recoger la mesa – clear away dishes and food.
Limpiar la mesa – wipe the table clean.

Why is porque one word, and not por qué?

Spanish distinguishes:

porque (one word)
= because, introduces a reason:
- Está agradecida porque todos ayudan. – She is grateful because everyone helps.
por qué (two words, usually with a question mark)
= why, used in questions:
- ¿Por qué está agradecida? – Why is she grateful?

In the sentence you gave, we’re expressing the reason (because), not asking a question, so it must be porque (one word).

Why do we use the simple present (ayudan) and not something like están ayudando, like English “are helping”?

Spanish uses the simple present much more than English, even for actions happening right now:

Todos los invitados ayudan a recoger la mesa.
can mean:
- Everyone helps to clear the table (in general / habitually), or
- Everyone is helping to clear the table (right now, in this situation).

If you really want to emphasize the ongoing action right now, you can use the progressive:

Todos los invitados están ayudando a recoger la mesa.

Both are correct; the simple present is just more common and less “marked” than in English.

Should the verb after porque be in the subjunctive (ayuden) instead of ayudan?

Here, indicative (ayudan) is correct:

porque todos los invitados ayudan a recoger la mesa

We use the indicative after porque when we’re stating a real, known reason:

Está triste porque sus amigos se van. – She is sad because her friends are leaving. (real fact)

We might use the subjunctive in other patterns, for example:

Lo hace para que todos los invitados ayuden a recoger la mesa.
(so that all the guests help clear the table – this is a desired outcome, not a stated fact, so ayuden is subjunctive.)

Because in your sentence the reason is factual (they do help), ayudan (indicative) is the right form.

Could we say La dueña está muy agradecida con todos los invitados instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, that is also correct, but the focus changes slightly:

La dueña está muy agradecida porque todos los invitados ayudan a recoger la mesa.
Focus: the specific action (they help clear the table) is the reason for her gratitude.
La dueña está muy agradecida con todos los invitados.
Focus: she is grateful towards the guests as people; it doesn’t explicitly mention what they did.

You could even combine both ideas:

La dueña está muy agradecida con todos los invitados porque ayudan a recoger la mesa.
→ She is very grateful to all the guests because they help clear the table.