Log inSign up

Señor juez, el hombre es culpable.

Señor juez, el hombre es culpable.
Judge, the man is guilty.
From Lesson 130:Formal irregular commands (sea, vaya, tenga)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Señor juez, el hombre es culpable.

Why do we say Señor juez instead of just Juez to say "Judge"?
In Spanish, it is very common and polite to put Señor (Mr.) or Señora (Mrs.) in front of a professional title when addressing someone directly. While in English we just say "Judge," Spanish speakers say Señor juez to show respect.
Don't we usually need to put el in front of Señor?
You only need the article el (or la for señora) when you are talking about the person, like El señor juez es estricto (The judge is strict). Because we are talking directly to the judge here, we drop the el.
Why use es instead of está for "is guilty"? Isn't being guilty a temporary state?
In Spanish, being guilty (culpable) or innocent (inocente) is treated as a defining characteristic or a legal identity rather than a temporary condition or feeling. Because it defines who the person is in the eyes of the law, it always takes the verb ser (here, es).
Does culpable change if we are talking about a woman?
No, it stays exactly the same. Adjectives that end in -e (like culpable, inteligente, or grande) are gender-neutral. If it were a woman, the sentence would simply be Señor juez, la mujer es culpable.

Learn Señor juez, el hombre es culpable 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 →