Question 1

Why does the sentence start with Es él instead of Él es?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish yes/no questions, it's very common to switch (or invert) the order of the verb and the subject. So instead of the statement statement form Él es (He is), you flip it to Es él (Is he).

Question 2

Why does the first él have an accent mark, but the second el doesn't?

Accepted Answer

The written accent mark distinguishes two words that sound exactly the same. Él with an accent means "he", while el without an accent means "the". This sentence happens to use both right next to each other!

Question 3

How do we say "the friend's" in Spanish?

Accepted Answer

Spanish doesn't use an apostrophe "s" ('s) to show ownership. Instead, you always have to phrase it using "of" (de). To say "the friend's brother", you literally say "the brother of the friend" (el hermano del amigo).

Question 4

Why do we use del instead of de el?

Accepted Answer

Del is a mandatory contraction. Whenever the preposition de (of) is followed directly by the masculine word for "the" (el), they must mash together into del. You will never write de el separately in Spanish.

¿Es él el hermano del amigo?

Breakdown of ¿Es él el hermano del amigo?

Questions & Answers about ¿Es él el hermano del amigo?

Learn ¿Es él el hermano del amigo and more in Spanish