Learn Spanish (Latin America): Mi oficina está en el tercer piso.

Mi oficina está en el tercer piso.

My office is on the third floor.

Breakdown of Mi oficina está en el tercer piso.

in / on / at

estar

to be (location/state)

la oficina

office

Questions & Answers about Mi oficina está en el tercer piso.

Why is it tercer instead of tercero?

The word for "third" is usually tercero. However, it drops the final -o and becomes tercer when it comes directly before a singular, masculine noun like piso (floor). The exact same thing happens with primero (first), which becomes primer.

Why does tercer come before the noun piso? Don't Spanish adjectives usually go after the noun?

That is a great question! While descriptive adjectives usually go after the noun (like una casa blanca), ordinal numbers are an exception. Words that show order, like first, second, and third, almost always go before the noun, just like they do in English.

Why do we use está here instead of es?

We use está (from the verb estar) because we are talking about location. Whenever you state where a person, place, or thing is physically located (like an office in a building), you use estar rather than ser.

Does en mean in or on?

It actually means both! The Spanish word en is a very flexible preposition that translates to "in", "on", or "at" depending on the context. For floors of a building, Spanish simply uses en.