El tema está bien explicado.

to be

Breakdown of El tema está bien explicado.

• bien: well
• el tema: the topic
• explicado: explained

Questions & Answers about El tema está bien explicado.

Why is it está and not es?

Because estar is used here to describe the state or condition of the topic: it is well explained.

• El tema está bien explicado = the topic is in a well-explained state
• ser + past participle is more typical for a true passive construction, especially when you mention the agent:
  • El tema fue explicado por la profesora = the topic was explained by the teacher

In everyday Spanish, estar + past participle is very common when the focus is on the result, not on who did the action.

What is explicado here?

Explicado is the past participle of explicar (to explain).

Here it works like an adjective, describing el tema:

• explicar → infinitive
• explicado → past participle
• bien explicado → well explained

So in this sentence, explicado is not acting like a full verb by itself. It is part of the structure estar + past participle.

Is this a passive sentence?