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La leche está caliente.

La leche está caliente.
The milk is hot.
From Lesson 17:Ser vs. estar·Spanish (Spain)

Breakdown of La leche está caliente.

la leche
the milk
estar
to be (location/state)
caliente
hot

Questions & Answers about La leche está caliente.

Why do we use está here instead of es?
We use está (from the verb estar) because the temperature of the milk is a temporary state. If the milk cools down, it will not be hot anymore. We use ser for permanent characteristics, but estar for conditions that can change.
Why is it la leche? I thought words that don't end in -a are usually masculine.
While most words ending in -a are feminine, words ending in -e can be either masculine or feminine. Leche happens to be a feminine noun, so it must use the feminine word for the, which is la.
Does the adjective caliente change because leche is feminine?
No, it stays exactly the same. Adjectives that end in -e (like caliente) are gender-neutral in Spanish. They do not change to -a or -o, so they look the same whether they describe a masculine or feminine noun.
Why does está have a written accent mark on the a?
The written accent tells you to put the spoken stress on the final syllable. It also helps tell the verb está (is) apart from the word esta without an accent, which means this (as in esta leche, meaning this milk).

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