Pela la zanahoria con el cuchillo.

Breakdown of Pela la zanahoria con el cuchillo.

con
with
el cuchillo
the knife
pelar
to peel
la zanahoria
the carrot

Questions & Answers about Pela la zanahoria con el cuchillo.

Why is it pela and not pelas if I am telling someone to peel the carrot?
To give a direct command to someone you address as tú (informal 'you'), you use the affirmative imperative form. For regular verbs, you just drop the final s from the normal 'you' form. So, instead of tú pelas (you peel), the command is just pela (peel!). This makes it look exactly like the él/ella (he/she) present tense form.
How would I say this if I were speaking formally to someone using usted?
For regular verbs ending in -ar like pelar, the formal usted command swaps the usual vowel to an -e. So you would say pele la zanahoria con el cuchillo.
How do I pronounce the 'h' in the middle of zanahoria?
The h in Spanish is always silent, even in the middle of a word. You pronounce zanahoria smoothly as if the 'h' were not there at all, blending the vowels together.
Does con el combine into a single word the way del and al do?
No, con (with) and el (the) always stay as two separate words. In Spanish, only a + el combine to make al, and de + el combine to make del.

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