Breakdown of Mi hermano mayor es un estudiante excelente.
ser
to be
el estudiante
the student
el hermano
the brother
un
a, an (masculine)
Questions & Answers about Mi hermano mayor es un estudiante excelente.
Why does this sentence use mayor instead of más viejo for "older"?
Mayor is an irregular comparative that specifically means "older" when talking about age. While más viejo literally translates to "more old," it sounds quite harsh or rude when referring to people, especially family members. It is much more natural and common to use hermano mayor for "older brother."
Does mayor change depending on the gender of the sibling?
I learned that we drop words like un or una when talking about professions or being a student. Why is un used here?
You are completely right that in Spanish we normally drop the article for professions or roles. For example, if you just wanted to say "He is a student," you would say Él es estudiante. However, there is a special rule: if you add a descriptive word (an adjective) to say what kind of student they are (like excelente), you must bring the un or una back. That's why this sentence says es un estudiante excelente.
Why do we use es (from ser) instead of está (from estar) here?