Si quieres buenas butacas, es mejor llegar pronto y elegir una fila que no esté demasiado cerca de la pantalla.

Si means if, and after si in normal real conditions, Spanish uses the present indicative, not the subjunctive.

So:

• Si quieres buenas butacas... = If you want good seats...

You use quieres because the speaker is talking about a real, possible situation.

Compare:

• Si quieres, te acompaño. = If you want, I’ll come with you.
• Si tuvieras tiempo, iríamos. = If you had time, we’d go.

That second example is a more hypothetical situation, so it uses a different tense.

Yes, here butacas means seats, especially the kind of fixed, more comfortable seats you find in places like:

• a cinema
• a theatre
• an auditorium

In Spain, butaca often sounds a bit more specific than asiento.

• asiento = seat in a general sense
• butaca = an armchair-style or fixed audience seat

In this sentence, buenas butacas sounds very natural for cinema or theatre seating.

In Spanish, descriptive adjectives usually come after the noun, but some common adjectives, including bueno/a, can go before the noun too.

Here, buenas butacas is the most natural order.

Putting bueno/a before the noun often sounds more general or evaluative:

• buenas butacas = good seats

If you said butacas buenas, it would sound more contrastive or emphatic, as if distinguishing them from bad ones in a very literal way. It is not the most natural choice here.

Spanish often leaves out the article when talking about things in a general, non-specific way.

So:

• Si quieres buenas butacas... = If you want good seats...

This means good seats in general, not a specific set of seats.

You could also say:

• Si quieres unas buenas butacas...

That is also possible, but it sounds a bit more like if you want some good seats. The version without unas is very natural and slightly more neutral/general.

Es mejor + infinitive is a very common structure in Spanish for giving general advice.

So:

• es mejor llegar pronto = it’s better to arrive early
• es mejor elegir... = it’s better to choose...

This structure is impersonal. It does not directly say you should, but that is the idea.

A very similar option is:

• Es mejor que llegues pronto...

That version uses que + subjunctive and addresses the listener more directly.
The infinitive version sounds more general and elegant in advice.

Because they depend on es mejor.

The structure is:

• es mejor + infinitive

So:

• es mejor llegar pronto
• y elegir una fila...

Both verbs are actions being recommended in a general way.

In English, this works similarly:

• It’s better to arrive early and choose a row...

Both pronto and temprano can relate to early, but they are not always identical.

In this sentence, llegar pronto is very natural and means arrive early / arrive soon enough.

A rough difference:

• pronto = early, soon
• temprano = early in the day / at an early time

For cinema context, pronto fits very well because the idea is get there in good time.

You could hear llegar temprano too, but llegar pronto sounds especially natural when talking about arriving before other people so you can choose better seats.

Yes, fila can mean line, but it also means row.

The meaning depends on context:

• hacer fila = to stand in line
• la primera fila = the first row

Here it clearly means row, because it is talking about choosing where to sit in relation to the screen.

This is one of the most important grammar points in the sentence.

Spanish uses the subjunctive after que here because the speaker is talking about the kind of row you should look for, not a specific row already identified.

• una fila que no esté demasiado cerca de la pantalla = a row that isn’t too close to the screen

This is a desired characteristic, not a known fact.

Compare:

• Busco una fila que no esté demasiado cerca...
  = I’m looking for a row that isn’t too close...
  → the row is not specific yet, so subjunctive

• Elijo la fila que no está demasiado cerca...
  = I choose the row that isn’t too close...
  → now it sounds like such a row is known/identified, so indicative is possible

So esté is used because the row is indefinite and hypothetical.

Because being close to the screen is treated as a position/location-related condition, not an essential characteristic.

Spanish normally uses estar for location or spatial relation:

• está cerca
• está lejos
• está delante
• está detrás

So:

• una fila que no esté demasiado cerca de la pantalla

Using ser here would be wrong.

The accent mark in esté shows the correct stress and also distinguishes it from este.

• esté = subjunctive form of estar
• este = this

Examples:

• Espero que esté bien. = I hope he/she is well.
• Este asiento = this seat

So the accent is essential.

Demasiado means too or too much, depending on context.

Here:

• demasiado cerca = too close

And cerca is followed by de:

• cerca de la pantalla = close to the screen

This is a fixed pattern:

• cerca de
• lejos de

So you should learn cerca de as a unit.

Yes, you could say:

• Si quieres buenos asientos...

That would also be correct and natural.

The difference is mostly nuance:

• asientos = seats in a general sense
• butacas = seats like those in a cinema/theatre, often slightly more specific

In this sentence, butacas sounds very appropriate for a cinema context.

Yes, but it would change the structure slightly.

Original:

• es mejor llegar pronto y elegir una fila...

This presents two recommended actions:

1. arrive early
2. choose a row that isn’t too close

You could also say:

• es mejor llegar pronto para elegir una fila...

That means:

• it’s better to arrive early in order to choose a row...

So:

• y elegir = simply adds a second action
• para elegir = expresses purpose

Both are possible, but the original is more direct and natural here.

Yes, it sounds very natural in Spain.

A few details fit Spain well:

• butacas is very common for cinema/theatre seats
• pantalla is the normal word for screen
• the overall phrasing is standard and natural

In Latin America, the sentence would still be understood perfectly, but some speakers might more readily say asientos instead of butacas, depending on the country.

A more direct version could be:

• Si quieres buenas butacas, debes llegar pronto y elegir una fila que no esté demasiado cerca de la pantalla.

or

• Si quieres buenas butacas, tienes que llegar pronto...

But the original:

• es mejor llegar pronto...

sounds softer and more like advice than obligation.

So the original is a very natural way to give a recommendation without sounding too strong.