Breakdown of Él está intrigado y mira la rosa sin tocarla.
él
he
y
and
mirar
to look at / to watch
estar
to be (location/state)
la
it / her (direct object)
tocar
to touch
sin
without
la rosa
the rose
intrigado
intrigued
Questions & Answers about Él está intrigado y mira la rosa sin tocarla.
Why does this sentence use sin tocarla instead of sin que...?
We use sin followed by an infinitive (like tocar) when the subject of both actions is the same. Here, the person looking at the rose and the person not touching it is the same ("he"). If a different person were doing the second action, we would use sin que + the subjunctive (for example: Él mira la rosa sin que yo la toque - "He looks at the rose without me touching it").
Why is la attached to the end of tocar?
La is the direct object pronoun replacing la rosa ("it"). In Spanish, object pronouns must be attached directly to the end of infinitive verbs, making it one single word: tocarla.
Why do we use está intrigado instead of es intrigado?
We use estar + a past participle (like intrigado) to describe a temporary state, condition, or feeling. It describes how he is feeling right now as a result of something, rather than an inherent characteristic of who he is.
Why is there no Spanish word for "at" in mira la rosa?
The Spanish verb mirar inherently means "to look at" or "to watch." You don't need to add a preposition after it to mean "at". Also, because a rose is a thing and not a person or a pet, we don't need to add the "personal a" here.
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