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El zapato está debajo del sillón.

El zapato está debajo del sillón.
The shoe is under the armchair.
From Lesson 90:Complex prepositions of place (encima de, debajo de...)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El zapato está debajo del sillón.

Why does it say del sillón instead of de el sillón?
The phrase for "under" is debajo de. Because "the armchair" is el sillón, you need both de and el. In Spanish, whenever de is followed directly by the masculine article el, they must combine into the contraction del.
Can I just say debajo sillón without the del?
No, complex prepositions of place like debajo de always need the de attached. Furthermore, Spanish requires the definite article (el) before specific nouns in this type of location sentence. When you put de and el together, you get del.
Why do we use está instead of es here?
We use está (from the verb estar) because we are talking about the physical location of the shoe. Whenever you talk about where a person or object is located, you always use estar, never ser.
What is the difference between a silla and a sillón?
A silla is a standard, everyday chair, like a dining chair. A sillón is a larger, more comfortable armchair. The ending -ón is frequently added to Spanish words to show that something is a bigger or bulkier version of the original word!

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