ELONIO
Log inSign up

El plato está sucio, lo estoy lavando.

El plato está sucio, lo estoy lavando.
The plate is dirty, I am washing it.
From Lesson 80:Pronoun placement with infinitives·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El plato está sucio, lo estoy lavando.

Can I attach lo to the end of lavando instead of putting it before estoy?
Yes! When you have a conjugated verb followed by a gerund (an -ing word like lavando), you have two choices for the object pronoun. You can put it before the conjugated verb (lo estoy lavando) or attach it directly to the end of the gerund (estoy lavándolo). Both are perfectly correct and mean the exact same thing.
If I choose to say estoy lavándolo, do I need to add an accent mark?
Yes. When you attach a pronoun like lo to the end of a gerund (lavando), it adds an extra syllable to the word. To keep the spoken stress on the correct vowel (the a in -ando), you must add a written accent mark: lavándolo.
Why does the sentence use está for is dirty instead of es?
You use estar (here conjugated as está) to talk about physical conditions or temporary states. A plate is not permanently dirty by nature; it is just in a dirty state right now. If you used es, it would sound like being dirty is an unchanging characteristic of this specific plate!
What exactly does lo refer to here?
The word lo translates to it in this sentence. It is a direct object pronoun taking the place of el plato (the plate). Since plato is a masculine noun, we use the masculine pronoun lo. If we were talking about a feminine noun like la cuchara (the spoon), we would use la instead, making it la estoy lavando.

Learn El plato está sucio, lo estoy lavando and more in Spanish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Spanish →