La tienda grande está abierta.

Breakdown of La tienda grande está abierta.

grande
big
la tienda
the store
estar
to be (location/state)
abierto
open

Questions & Answers about La tienda grande está abierta.

Why do we use está instead of es for 'is' in this sentence?
Being open is a current state or condition of the store, not an essential part of its identity. We use the verb estar (like está) for states or locations, and ser (like es) for essential characteristics.
Why does grande come after tienda?
In Spanish, describing words (adjectives) usually go right after the noun they describe. So instead of saying 'the big store,' the sentence structure is 'the store big' (la tienda grande).
Both grande and abierta describe la tienda, so why does only abierta end in an 'a'?
Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. Since la tienda is feminine, the word for open changes from abierto to abierta. However, adjectives that naturally end in an -e (like grande) are neutral and do not change for gender.
Why does está have an accent mark over the 'a'?
The accent mark changes the meaning of the word entirely! With the accent, está is the verb meaning 'is.' Without the accent, esta means 'this' (as in esta tienda, which means 'this store').

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