Breakdown of La planta es bonita, ¿la puedes regar hoy?
ser
to be
bonito
pretty / nice
hoy
today
poder
to be able to / can
la
it / her (direct object)
la planta
the plant
regar
to water
Questions & Answers about La planta es bonita, ¿la puedes regar hoy?
Why is "la" placed before "puedes" instead of attached to "regar"?
Because you have a conjugated verb (puedes) combined with an infinitive (regar), you actually have two choices! You can place the pronoun before the conjugated verb (la puedes regar) or attach it to the very end of the infinitive (puedes regarla). Both are perfectly correct and mean the exact same thing.
Could I put the pronoun in the middle, like "¿puedes la regar hoy?"
No, you can never put the object pronoun between the conjugated verb and the infinitive. It must go either all the way at the front (la puedes regar) or attached directly to the end as one single word (puedes regarla).
What exactly does "la" mean here?
It translates to "it" and refers back to la planta. Because planta is a feminine singular noun, we must use the feminine singular direct object pronoun la to represent it.
Why do we use "es bonita" instead of "está bonita"?
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