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La foto de la ventana es vieja.

La foto de la ventana es vieja.
The photo of the window is old.
From Lesson 13:Ser vs. estar·Spanish (Latin America)

Breakdown of La foto de la ventana es vieja.

ser
to be
de
from / of
la foto
the photo
viejo
old
la ventana
the window

Questions & Answers about La foto de la ventana es vieja.

Why do we use es instead of está to say the photo is old?
In Spanish, age and basic physical traits are seen as essential characteristics or permanent descriptions. Even though things get older over time, being old is now a core trait of the photo, so we use the verb ser (which becomes es here) rather than estar.
Wait, why is it la foto? Doesn't the 'o' at the end usually mean it should be el?
Usually, yes! But foto is short for the longer word fotografía. Since fotografía is feminine, the shortened version keeps the feminine word for 'the', which is la.
Does the word vieja change its ending to match what it describes?
Yes! Describing words (adjectives) must match the noun they describe in gender. Since the main subject foto is feminine, the basic dictionary word viejo changes its ending to become vieja.
Could vieja be describing the window (la ventana) instead of the photo?
Grammatically, it is a little ambiguous because both foto and ventana are feminine singular nouns, so vieja matches both. However, in this sentence structure, the final adjective almost always describes the main subject at the beginning of the sentence (la foto).

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