Si la olla está muy sucia, prefiero limpiarla con un estropajo.

If the pot is very dirty, I prefer to clean it with a scouring pad.

Breakdown of Si la olla está muy sucia, prefiero limpiarla con un estropajo.

• yo: I
• un: a
• muy: very
• con: with

Questions & Answers about Si la olla está muy sucia, prefiero limpiarla con un estropajo.

Why is it está and not es?

Because estar is used for a temporary state or condition, while ser is used for something more permanent or defining. Here, muy sucia describes the pot’s current condition, so está muy sucia is the natural choice.

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Why does está have an accent mark?

The accent mark shows the correct stress: es-TÁ. It also distinguishes the verb form está from esta, which can mean this. In standard Spanish, the verb está always has the written accent.

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Why is it la olla and not just olla?

In Spanish, a singular countable noun usually needs an article or another determiner. So si olla está muy sucia would be ungrammatical. You need la olla, una olla, esta olla, and so on.

Here la olla means the pot.

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Why is sucia feminine?

Because adjectives in Spanish usually agree with the noun they describe. Olla is feminine singular, so the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• la olla sucia
• la olla está sucia

If the noun were masculine, you would use sucio instead.

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