Las estrellas brillan en el cielo oscuro.

Breakdown of Las estrellas brillan en el cielo oscuro.

en
in / on / at
la estrella
the star
el cielo
the sky
oscuro
dark
brillar
to shine

Questions & Answers about Las estrellas brillan en el cielo oscuro.

How would I change this sentence to say "Those stars (far away) shine..." using this lesson's grammar?
To say "those stars over there" (indicating a far distance), you would replace Las with Aquellas. The sentence becomes Aquellas estrellas brillan en el cielo oscuro. You must use Aquellas instead of Aquellos because the word estrellas is feminine and plural.
Why does oscuro come after cielo?
In Spanish, descriptive adjectives like oscuro (dark) almost always go after the noun they describe. So, instead of saying "dark sky" like in English, Spanish translates literally to "sky dark" (cielo oscuro).
What is the base verb for brillan, and is it regular?
The base form (infinitive) is brillar (to shine). It is a completely regular -ar verb. Since the subject is Las estrellas (which matches "they" or ellas), you drop the -ar ending and add -an to get brillan.
How is the double L (ll) in estrellas and brillan pronounced in Latin America?
In most of Latin America, the ll makes a "y" sound (like in the English word "yes"). So, estrellas sounds like "es-TRE-yas" and brillan sounds like "BREE-yan". (Note: In a few places like Argentina and Uruguay, it makes an "sh" or "zh" sound instead!)

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