Question 1

Why does no come before es instead of after it?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, to make a statement negative, you simply place no directly before the verb. So instead of saying "is not" like in English, Spanish does the equivalent of "not is" (no es).

Question 2

Why does the second part just say pero es inteligente without a word for "he"?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, subject pronouns like él (he) are usually dropped because the verb form (es) and the context already tell us who is being described. Since we know we are talking about el profesor, adding él is not needed.

Question 3

Why does viejo end in -o while inteligente ends in -e?

Accepted Answer

Adjectives change their endings to match the gender of the noun. Viejo is masculine to match el profesor (a female teacher would be la profesora no es vieja). However, adjectives that end in -e, like inteligente, are naturally gender-neutral and stay the same for both masculine and feminine nouns.

Question 4

Why use es and not está for "is" in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

We use es (from the verb ser) because being old (viejo) and being intelligent (inteligente) are seen as core characteristics of who the teacher is, rather than temporary states or locations.

El profesor no es viejo, pero es inteligente.

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