Breakdown of La silla está contra la pared.
la silla
the chair
estar
to be (location/state)
la pared
the wall
contra
against
Questions & Answers about La silla está contra la pared.
Why do we use está instead of es for the chair?
Is contra a preposition of movement like hacia or hasta?
While hacia (towards) and hasta (as far as) show movement or a limit, contra (against) shows physical contact or opposition. Here, it simply shows the static location of the chair touching the wall.
Why is it la pared? Doesn't la usually go with words ending in an A?
Pared (wall) is a feminine noun, so it uses la. While most feminine words end in A, words ending in D (like la pared, la ciudad, or la verdad) are almost always feminine in Spanish.
Does contra ever change its ending to match masculine or feminine words?
No, contra is a preposition, and prepositions never change their form. It will always be contra, whether the next word is masculine, feminine, singular, or plural.