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La pasta y la sopa están en la mesa.

La pasta y la sopa están en la mesa.
The pasta and the soup are on the table.
From Lesson 35:Conjunctions (y, o, pero)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about La pasta y la sopa están en la mesa.

Why do we use están (plural) when both la pasta and la sopa are singular words?
Because the conjunction y (and) joins them to make a plural subject. Just like in English, connecting two singular items with y makes them a 'they', so we need the plural verb están.
Why do we use están here instead of son?
Both mean 'are', but we use están (from the verb estar) to talk about where things are located. Since the food is on the table, están is the right choice. We use son (from ser) for descriptions and permanent traits.
Does the word en mean 'in' or 'on'?
It means both! In Spanish, the preposition en is used for 'in', 'on', and 'at'. You just rely on context to know which one makes sense. Since food goes on top of a table, it translates to 'on' here.
Can I drop the second la and just say la pasta y sopa?
It is much better to keep it. While English often drops the second 'the' in phrases like 'the pasta and soup', Spanish strongly prefers putting the article (la, el, etc.) in front of every noun in a list connected by y.

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