Breakdown of El agua entra al compartimento por no cerrar la escotilla.
no
no, not
el agua
water
al
to the
entrar
to enter
por
for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)
cerrar
to close
el compartimento
compartment
la escotilla
hatch
Questions & Answers about El agua entra al compartimento por no cerrar la escotilla.
Why does this sentence use El agua if agua is a feminine noun?
Even though agua is feminine, it starts with a stressed "a" sound. To avoid the awkward sound of la agua blending together, Spanish uses the masculine article el in the singular. It is still a feminine noun, so any adjectives would be feminine (like el agua fría), and it reverts to las in the plural (las aguas).
English says "due to not closing", which uses an "-ing" word. Why does Spanish use the infinitive cerrar?
In Spanish, whenever a verb directly follows a preposition like por, it must be in its infinitive form. While English often uses gerunds (words ending in "-ing") after prepositions, Spanish strictly uses the infinitive.
The current lesson is about the neuter pronoun ello. How could we use it to express the same idea?
The pronoun ello refers back to a complete abstract idea or situation rather than a specific physical noun. If we split this thought into two sentences, we could say: No se cerró la escotilla. Por ello, el agua entra al compartimento. (The hatch wasn't closed. Because of that, water enters...). Here, ello represents the entire proposition of the hatch not being closed.
Could we use para instead of por before no cerrar?
Learn El agua entra al compartimento por no cerrar la escotilla 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