Aunque es tarde, la biblioteca sigue abierta.

Although it's late, the library is still open.

Breakdown of Aunque es tarde, la biblioteca sigue abierta.

• ser: to be
• tarde: late
• aunque: although
• la biblioteca: the library

Questions & Answers about Aunque es tarde, la biblioteca sigue abierta.

Why does the sentence start with aunque?

Aunque means although / even though. It introduces a contrast:

• Aunque es tarde = Although it’s late
• la biblioteca sigue abierta = the library is still open

So the whole sentence sets up an unexpected situation: it is late, but the library is still open.

Why is it es tarde and not something like está tarde?

In Spanish, es tarde is the normal way to say it’s late.

Here, ser is used in an impersonal expression:

• Es temprano = It’s early
• Es tarde = It’s late

You do not use estar here.

What kind of word is tarde in this sentence?

Here, tarde functions like an adjective in the expression es tarde.

It does not mean afternoon here. Spanish tarde can mean different things depending on context:

• la tarde = the afternoon
• llegar tarde = to arrive late
• es tarde = it’s late

So in this sentence, it clearly means late, not afternoon.

Why is there a comma after tarde?