Breakdown of En la cartelera hay dos películas interesantes; prefiero la segunda.
yo
I
en
on
interesante
interesting
preferir
to prefer
Questions & Answers about En la cartelera hay dos películas interesantes; prefiero la segunda.
What does cartelera mean here?
In Spain, la cartelera usually means the list of films currently showing at a cinema, or cinema listings in general. It does not only mean a physical poster board, although historically that is where the word comes from.
So in this sentence, En la cartelera is roughly referring to what is showing at the cinema.
Why does the sentence use hay instead of están?
Hay is used to say that something exists or that something is present somewhere: there is / there are.
So:
- Hay dos películas interesantes = there are two interesting films
By contrast, están would normally be used when talking about the location or state of specific things that are already identified.
Compare:
- Hay dos películas interesantes en la cartelera. = There are two interesting films in the listings.
- Las dos películas están en la cartelera. = The two films are in the listings.
A key point: hay is the special impersonal form of haber, and it stays the same whether what follows is singular or plural.