El departamento de recursos humanos está aquí.

The human-resources department is here.

Breakdown of El departamento de recursos humanos está aquí.

• estar: to be
• aquí: here
• el departamento de recursos humanos: the human-resources department

Questions & Answers about El departamento de recursos humanos está aquí.

Why is it está and not es?

Spanish uses two verbs for to be: ser and estar.

Here, está is used because the sentence is talking about location: where the human resources department is.

A useful rule is:

• ser = identity, origin, characteristics
• estar = location, states, conditions

So:

• El departamento de recursos humanos está aquí = the HR department is here
• Using es aquí would sound wrong in standard Spanish.

Why does está have an accent mark?

The accent mark shows both pronunciation and meaning.

• está = he/she/it is or you are from estar
• esta = this (feminine), as in esta mesa = this table

So the accent helps distinguish the verb form from the demonstrative word.

Why does aquí have an accent mark?