Breakdown of Si el museo está a trescientos metros, podemos ir a pie.
estar
to be
nosotros
we
ir
to go
poder
can
Questions & Answers about Si el museo está a trescientos metros, podemos ir a pie.
Why does the sentence start with si?
Si means if in Spanish. It introduces a condition:
- Si el museo está a trescientos metros = If the museum is three hundred metres away
In this sentence, the speaker is saying that under that condition, going on foot is possible.
A useful warning: si without an accent means if, but sí with an accent means yes.
Why is it está and not es?
Spanish uses both ser and estar for to be, but they are used in different situations.
Here, está a trescientos metros refers to location/distance, so Spanish uses estar:
- El museo está a trescientos metros. = The museum is 300 metres away.
You would not normally say es a trescientos metros here.
A simple way to think about it:
- ser = identity, description, origin, etc.
- estar = location, state, condition
What does a trescientos metros literally mean?