El cuento es corto pero interesante.

The story is short but interesting.

Breakdown of El cuento es corto pero interesante.

• ser: to be
• pero: but
• corto: short
• interesante: interesting
• el cuento: the story

Questions & Answers about El cuento es corto pero interesante.

Why is there el before cuento? In English I could just say “Story is short but interesting.” Can Spanish omit the article?

In Spanish, you normally must use an article with singular countable nouns.

• El cuento es corto… = The story is short… (a specific story the speaker and listener know about)
• Without el (∗Cuento es corto…) is incorrect in standard Spanish.

You would only drop the article in certain titles, headlines, or labels, e.g.:

• Cuento corto as a heading on a worksheet
• Cuento as a menu/category label

In normal sentences, keep the article: el cuento, la casa, el libro, etc.

What exactly does cuento mean? How is it different from historia or relato?

Cuento usually means a short, self‑contained fictional story, often like:

• a short story in literature
• a children’s story / fairy tale

Historia is broader:

• a story (true or invented): una historia divertida
• history as a subject: la historia de España

Relato is often a narrative account, sometimes a bit more formal/literary than cuento.

So:

• El cuento es corto pero interesante.
  Suggests a short story or tale, likely fictional.

If you said:

• La historia es corta pero interesante.
  That could be a true story, an anecdote, or even a plot summary.

Why is it es and not está? What’s the difference between es corto and está corto?

Ser (es) is used for inherent or defining characteristics.
Estar (está) is for temporary states or conditions.

• El cuento es corto.
  Being short is a basic characteristic of the story (it just is short; that’s its nature).

Está corto would be unusual here. It might appear in very specific contexts with a different nuance, for example:

• El texto está corto.
  Could mean the text is (too) short / it came out short (compared to what was expected or needed).

For physical length/height in a neutral, descriptive way, default to ser:

• La película es corta. – The film is short.
• El camino es largo. – The road is long.

Can I say El cuento es interesante pero corto instead? Does changing the order change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

• El cuento es corto pero interesante.
• El cuento es interesante pero corto.

Both are grammatically correct. The meaning is the same, but the emphasis shifts slightly:

• corto pero interesante
  Suggests: “Despite being short, it’s interesting.”
  (We highlight that its shortness might be seen as a drawback, but it is interesting.)

• interesante pero corto
  Suggests: “It’s interesting, but it’s short.”
  (We highlight interest first, but then add the limitation of length.)

In everyday speech, both orders are very natural; context and intonation carry most of the nuance.

Why do the adjectives come after the noun? Could I say El corto cuento es interesante?

In Spanish, the default position for most adjectives is after the noun:

• el cuento corto – the short story
• una casa grande – a big house

So es corto pero interesante mirrors that pattern after the verb ser.

You can put some adjectives before the noun, but it often sounds literary, emphatic, or changes nuance. El corto cuento is grammatically possible, but:

• It sounds unusual or poetic.
• In normal, neutral speech, you’d say:
  • El cuento corto es interesante.
  • Este cuento corto es interesante.
  • Or the original: El cuento es corto pero interesante.

So as a learner, keep adjectives after the noun in noun phrases unless you know a specific pattern (e.g. un gran hombre, una buena idea).

Why corto and interesante (masculine singular)? How would this change with feminine or plural nouns?

Adjectives in Spanish must agree in gender and number with the noun:

• cuento is masculine singular → corto, interesante

Corto has four main forms:

• corto – masculine singular: el cuento corto
• corta – feminine singular: la película corta
• cortos – masculine plural: los cuentos cortos
• cortas – feminine plural: las películas cortas

Interesante ends in -e, so it doesn’t change for gender, only for number:

• singular: interesante – el cuento interesante, la película interesante
• plural: interesantes – los cuentos interesantes, las películas interesantes

Example plural of the whole sentence:

• Los cuentos son cortos pero interesantes.
  (The stories are short but interesting.)

Why is it pero and not sino or aunque? How are these different?

Pero, sino, and aunque all relate to contrast, but they are not interchangeable.

1. pero = but, however
   Joins two statements; the first is not negated:

   • El cuento es corto pero interesante.

2. sino = but rather / but instead
   Used after a negation to correct or replace information:

   • El cuento no es largo, sino corto.
     (The story is not long, but rather short.)

3. aunque = although / even though
   Introduces a subordinate clause:

   • Aunque el cuento es corto, es interesante.
     (Although the story is short, it is interesting.)

In your sentence there is no negation and we’re just adding a contrast, so pero is the correct choice.

What’s the difference between corto, breve, and pequeño? Could I say El cuento es pequeño pero interesante?

They’re related but not the same:

• corto = short in length (time, extension, amount of content)

  • El cuento es corto. – The story doesn’t take long to read.

• breve = brief, somewhat more formal/literary

  • Fue una explicación breve pero clara.

• pequeño = small in size or scale, not usually time/length of a text

  • El libro es pequeño. – The physical book is small.
  • Tiene un papel pequeño en la historia. – A small role.

El cuento es pequeño pero interesante sounds odd, because pequeño doesn’t naturally describe the length of a story. Use:

• El cuento es corto pero interesante.
• Or more formal: El cuento es breve pero interesante.

How do I pronounce cuento, corto, and interesante, and where is the stress?

All three follow regular stress rules (no written accent, so stress falls on the second-to-last syllable because they end in a vowel or -n/-s):

• cuento → CUEN-to

  • cue is a single syllable /kwe/ (like “kwen”), then to.

• corto → COR-to

  • Single r, one tap, not rolled.

• interesante → in-te-re-SAN-te

  • Stress on -san-: in-te-re-SAN-te.

None of these words are pronounced with an English “oi” or “ow” sound; they use pure Spanish vowels.

How would I say “The stories are very short but really interesting” in Spanish?

You’d make the noun and adjectives plural and add intensifiers:

• Los cuentos son muy cortos pero realmente interesantes.

Other natural variations:

• Los cuentos son muy cortos pero muy interesantes.
• Los cuentos son bastante cortos pero muy interesantes.

Key changes from the original:

• El cuento → Los cuentos (singular → plural)
• es → son (third person singular → plural)
• corto → cortos, interesante → interesantes (agreement in number)
• Added muy (very) and realmente (really) as intensifiers.