¿Estáis en el hospital?

Questions & Answers about ¿Estáis en el hospital?

Why does the sentence use en for "in"? Doesn't Spanish have a separate word for "at"?
The Spanish preposition en is incredibly versatile! It is used for locations and translates to "in", "on", or "at" depending on the context. Here, en el hospital can mean either "in the hospital" or "at the hospital".
Why is the verb estáis used here instead of sois?
In Spanish, we use the verb estar (to be) whenever we talk about physical location. Because the sentence asks where you are right now, we must use estáis. We never use ser (like sois) for the location of people or things.
Who exactly is estáis referring to, and why is there no pronoun?
Estáis means "you all are". It is the vosotros form, which is used in Spain to speak informally to a group of people. The pronoun vosotros is usually left out because the verb ending already tells us exactly who the subject is.
Do I pronounce the 'h' in hospital like I do in English?
No, the letter 'h' is always completely silent in Spanish. You should start pronouncing the word directly from the 'o'. Also, the spoken stress falls on the final syllable, so it sounds like "os-pi-TAL".

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