Learn Spanish (Spain): Los coches están sucios.

Los coches están sucios.

The cars are dirty.

Breakdown of Los coches están sucios.

el coche

the car

estar

to be (location/state)

sucio

dirty

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Questions & Answers about Los coches están sucios.

Why do we use están here instead of son?

We use están (from the verb estar) because being dirty is a temporary state or condition of the cars right now. If we used son (from the verb ser), it would sound like being dirty is a permanent, defining characteristic of these cars.

Why is the word for dirty spelled sucios here instead of sucio?

In Spanish, adjectives always have to match the noun they describe in both gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural). Since coches is a masculine plural noun, the adjective sucio must also take its masculine plural form, sucios.

How can I tell if coches is masculine or feminine since it ends in an 'e'?

Nouns ending in 'e' can be either masculine or feminine, so they can be tricky to remember. But in this sentence, the other words give you a big clue! The word for 'the' is los and the adjective ends in '-os' (sucios). Both are masculine, which tells you coches is masculine too.

Which form of the verb estar is están?

Están is the 'they' form of estar. We use it here because we are talking about los coches (the cars), which acts as a plural 'they' subject.