La cadena está seca.

Spanish usually uses estar for a state or condition, and ser for a more essential characteristic.

So La cadena está seca means the chain is in a dry condition right now.

Compare:

• La cadena está seca = the chain is dry
• La cadena es... would sound wrong here, because dry is not being treated as a defining identity of the chain

This is one of the most common patterns with adjectives describing condition:

• está mojado/a = is wet
• está limpio/a = is clean
• está roto/a = is broken
• está seco/a = is dry

Because seca has to agree with cadena, which is a feminine singular noun.

• la cadena = feminine singular
• seca = feminine singular form of seco

Spanish adjectives usually change to match the noun:

• el cable seco = the dry cable
• la cadena seca = the dry chain

So the pattern is:

• masculine singular: seco
• feminine singular: seca
• masculine plural: secos
• feminine plural: secas

Because cadena is simply a feminine noun in Spanish, so it takes la.

A very common clue is that nouns ending in -a are often feminine, and cadena follows that pattern.

So:

• la cadena
• not el cadena

As always, grammatical gender in Spanish does not mean the object is biologically female. It is just part of the noun’s grammar.

The accent mark shows where the stress goes: es-TÁ.

Without the accent, esta is a different word:

• esta = this (feminine)
• está = is

So the accent is important both for pronunciation and for meaning.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

la ka-DE-na es-TA SE-ka

More carefully:

• la
• cadena → ka-DE-na
• está → es-TÁ
• seca → SE-ka

A few pronunciation notes:

• The c in cadena sounds like k because it comes before a
• The c in seca also sounds like k
• The stress is on de in cadena, on tá in está, and on se in seca

Because Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed.

In English, you must say it is dry.
In Spanish, the verb form often gives enough information, so you can just say:

• La cadena está seca

Adding a pronoun here would usually be unnecessary.

Also, for objects like cadena, Spanish normally uses the noun itself rather than an English-style it.

Yes, you can, but it changes the feel a little.

• La cadena está seca = neutral, standard word order
• Está seca la cadena = possible, but more marked; it can sound like you are emphasizing the condition or responding to a situation

For most learners, La cadena está seca is the safest and most natural version to use first.

It can be used in several related ways, just like dry in English.

For example, it can describe something:

• without water or moisture
• not oily or lubricated enough, depending on context
• emotionally or stylistically dry in some other contexts

With cadena, context matters. In real life, it might mean the chain is literally dry, or that it lacks lubrication. Spanish still uses seca for that basic idea of dryness.

In normal everyday usage for a physical chain, it would sound unnatural.

Spanish speakers strongly prefer está seca because this is a condition. A chain can be wet, dry, clean, dirty, rusty, etc., and these are normally expressed with estar.

So for a learner, the best rule here is:

• condition/state → estar
• therefore: La cadena está seca

Usually, no. In a normal sentence like this, Spanish wants the article:

• La cadena está seca

Saying just Cadena está seca sounds incorrect in standard Spanish.

Spanish uses definite articles more often than English does, especially with general or known objects.

It follows a very common Spanish pattern:

article + noun + verb + adjective

So here:

• La = the
• cadena = chain
• está = is
• seca = dry

That gives:

La cadena está seca.

This pattern is extremely useful for beginners:

• La puerta está abierta = the door is open
• La ropa está mojada = the clothes are wet
• La mesa está limpia = the table is clean