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La llave está en la mesa.

La llave está en la mesa.
The key is on the table.
From Lesson 11:Locative adverbs (aquí, allí)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about La llave está en la mesa.

Why does en mean 'on' here? I thought it meant 'in'.
In Spanish, the preposition en is very versatile. It can mean 'in', 'on', or 'at' depending on the context. Since a key usually rests on top of a table rather than inside it, 'on' is the most natural English translation for this sentence.
Why do we use está instead of es for 'is'?
We use está (from the verb estar) because we are talking about a physical location. A helpful rule is that when you are stating where someone or something is located, you always use estar, never ser.
If I wanted to say 'The key is there on the table', how would I add that?
You can use the locative adverb allí (there). A natural way to say this is: La llave está allí, en la mesa. Notice how allí goes right after the verb to point out the general location, followed by the specific place.
How do I pronounce the double L in llave?
In most of Spain, the double L (ll) is pronounced similarly to the English 'y' in 'yellow' or the 'lli' in 'million'. So, llave sounds roughly like 'yah-veh'.

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