Learn Spanish (Latin America): Aquellos pájaros están lejos.

Aquellos pájaros están lejos.

Those birds are far away.

Breakdown of Aquellos pájaros están lejos.

el pájaro

the bird

estar

to be (location/state)

Questions & Answers about Aquellos pájaros están lejos.

Why use aquellos instead of esos if both mean "those"?

In Spanish, there are two ways to say "those". You use esos for things that are close to the person you are talking to, or just a short distance away. You use aquellos for things that are far away from both of you. Since the birds in this sentence are lejos (far away), aquellos is the perfect choice.

Wait, if the singular is aquel, why isn't the plural "aqueles"?

It is a very common guess to just add an "es" to aquel! However, the masculine plural form actually changes to aquellos. It has to match the masculine plural noun pájaros. For feminine words, the pattern is more regular (aquella becomes aquellas).

Why do we use están instead of son here?

We use están because the sentence is talking about physical location. In Spanish, you always use the verb estar to describe where someone or something is located at a given moment.

Since there are multiple birds (pájaros), shouldn't lejos be plural too?

No, lejos stays exactly as it is. It is an adverb meaning "far away" (describing where they are). Unlike adjectives (like aquellos), adverbs never change their endings to match the number or gender of the nouns in the sentence.