Learn Spanish (Latin America): Los hombres están gritando en la calle.

Los hombres están gritando en la calle.

The men are shouting in the street.

Breakdown of Los hombres están gritando en la calle.

in / on / at

los

the (masculine plural)

estar

to be (location/state)

la calle

the street

Questions & Answers about Los hombres están gritando en la calle.

Why do we use están here instead of son for "are"?

To talk about an action happening right now (like "are shouting"), Spanish uses the verb estar combined with a gerund (an "-ing" word). We use están because it matches the plural subject los hombres. We never use ser (like son) to talk about actions in progress.

How do we form the word gritando (shouting)?

The base verb for "to shout" is gritar, which is a regular verb ending in "-ar". To make the gerund (the "-ing" form), you simply drop that "-ar" ending and add -ando. So, gritar becomes gritando.

Does en always mean "in"?

The Spanish word en is very flexible and can translate to "in", "on", or "at" depending on the context. Here, en la calle translates to "in the street" (or "on the street"). It is a very common preposition to use for locations.

Is there a rule for why it is la calle instead of el calle?

Unlike words ending in "-o" or "-a", Spanish nouns that end in "-e" do not have a strict gender rule. Some are masculine and some are feminine. Calle (street) happens to be feminine, so we use la calle. You will just need to memorize the gender for words ending in "-e" as you learn them.