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Los mapas son pequeños.

Los mapas son pequeños.
The maps are small.
From Lesson 9:Noun gender exceptions·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Los mapas son pequeños.

Why is it Los mapas and not Las mapas if the word ends in 'a'?
Mapa is a high-frequency exception to the rule! Even though it ends in 'a' (which usually means a word is feminine), it is actually a masculine noun. That is why it takes the masculine plural los instead of las.
Does the adjective pequeños have to be masculine even though mapas ends in an 'a'?
Yes! Adjectives must match the true gender of the noun, not just how the noun is spelled. Since el mapa is masculine, any adjective describing it must be masculine too, making it pequeños rather than pequeñas.
Why do we use son here instead of están?
We use son (from the verb ser) to talk about physical characteristics and general descriptions. Since being small is a core, built-in trait of these maps, we use ser rather than estar.
How would you change this sentence to just say 'The map is small'?
You would say El mapa es pequeño. Notice how every single word changes to match the singular form: los becomes el, mapas becomes mapa, the verb son becomes es, and pequeños becomes pequeño.

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