Questions & Answers about ¿Limpias la cocina hoy?
There is a la in this sentence. Is that the direct object pronoun from this lesson?
No, here la is just the definite article (meaning "the") belonging to cocina (kitchen). A direct object pronoun replaces the noun entirely. If you wanted to say "Are you cleaning it?", you would drop la cocina and use the pronoun la instead: ¿La limpias hoy?
How would I answer this question by saying "Yes, I am cleaning it today"?
You would say Sí, la limpio hoy. Because cocina is a feminine noun, the pronoun for "it" is la. Remember that direct object pronouns must go immediately before the conjugated verb (limpio).
The English translation says "Are you cleaning", but isn't limpias the simple present tense "you clean"?
Yes! In Spanish, the simple present tense is very flexible. It can mean "you clean", "you do clean", or "you are cleaning". Because of the word hoy (today), we know it is a planned action for today, which English naturally expresses as "Are you cleaning".
Why isn't the word tú (you) in this sentence?
In Spanish, the verb ending usually tells you exactly who is doing the action. The -as ending on limpias only ever goes with tú, so adding the actual word tú is not necessary unless you want to emphasize who you are talking to.
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