Learn Spanish (Latin America): El libro es aburrido y largo.

El libro es aburrido y largo.

The book is boring and long.

Breakdown of El libro es aburrido y largo.

Questions & Answers about El libro es aburrido y largo.

Why do we use es instead of está for this sentence?

In this lesson, we learn that ser (where es comes from) is used for essential traits, while estar is used for temporary states. Being boring and long are permanent characteristics of the book, not a temporary mood or location, so we must use es.

Doesn't aburrido mean "bored"? Why does it translate to "boring" here?

The meaning of aburrido actually changes depending on which "to be" verb you use! Because we used ser to talk about a characteristic, es aburrido means the book is boring. If you used estar to talk about a temporary state, like él está aburrido, it would mean he is bored.

Largo looks like "large". Does it mean a physically big book?

No, largo is a classic false friend! It looks like "large" in English, but it actually translates to "long" (referring to length or time). If you want to say a book is physically large or big, you would use the word grande.

Why do both aburrido and largo end in -o?

In Spanish, adjectives must match the gender and number of the noun they describe. Because el libro is a masculine, singular noun, both of the adjectives describing it must also take the masculine, singular ending -o.