Cuando el cielo está gris, prefiero quedarme en casa.

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Breakdown of Cuando el cielo está gris, prefiero quedarme en casa.

• la casa: the house
• en: at
• estar: to be

Questions & Answers about Cuando el cielo está gris, prefiero quedarme en casa.

Why does the sentence start with cuando?

Cuando means when. It introduces a time clause: Cuando el cielo está gris = When the sky is gray.

In Spanish, this is a very common way to set the scene before the main idea. The main clause here is prefiero quedarme en casa.

Why is it está gris and not es gris?

Spanish uses estar for many states or conditions, and ser for more permanent or defining characteristics.

So:

• El cielo está gris = the sky is gray right now / at the moment
• El cielo es gris would sound more like gray is an essential characteristic of the sky, which is not what is meant here

Weather-related appearance and temporary conditions often use estar.

What exactly is gris here? Does it change form?

Gris is an adjective meaning gray.

In this sentence, it describes el cielo. A useful detail is that gris usually stays the same in masculine and feminine singular:

• el cielo gris
• la nube gris

In the plural, it often becomes grises:

• los cielos grises
• las nubes grises

So here, gris agrees with the singular noun cielo.

Why is it and not or ?