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Ellos están bebiendo cerveza fría.

Ellos están bebiendo cerveza fría.
They are drinking cold beer.
From Lesson 63:Basic Food and Drink·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Ellos están bebiendo cerveza fría.

Why is it cerveza fría instead of fría cerveza?
In Spanish, descriptive adjectives like fría (cold) almost always come after the noun they describe. Since cerveza (beer) is the noun, the adjective follows it.
Why does fría end with an "-a"?
Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because cerveza is a feminine noun, the dictionary form of the adjective (frío) changes to its feminine form, fría.
How does the "are drinking" part work here?
This sentence uses a structure called the present continuous to show an action happening right now. It is built using the verb estar (to be) matched to the subject, which gives us están (they are), followed by the Spanish equivalent of an "-ing" word: bebiendo (drinking).
How do we form the word bebiendo?
To make the "-ing" form for verbs that end in "-er" or "-ir", you drop that ending and add -iendo. The root verb here is beber (to drink), so dropping the "-er" and adding -iendo gives us bebiendo.
Could I just say Ellos beben cerveza fría?
Yes! In Spanish, the simple present tense like ellos beben can mean both "they drink" and "they are drinking". However, using están bebiendo strongly emphasizes that the drinking is happening right at this very moment.

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