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El edificio es muy alto.

El edificio es muy alto.
The building is very tall.
From Lesson 20:My building (la escalera, el ascensor)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about El edificio es muy alto.

Why do we use es instead of está here?
In Spanish, there are two verbs for "to be": ser and estar. We use es (from ser) because being tall is a permanent, basic characteristic of the building, not a temporary condition or a location.
Does alto change if we are talking about a different word?
Yes! Adjectives in Spanish have to match the gender and number of the noun they describe. Since edificio is a masculine, singular word, we use alto. If we were talking about a house (casa, which is feminine), it would be alta, and for multiple buildings it would be altos.
Why do we use muy instead of mucho for "very"?
We use muy before adjectives (like alto) to mean "very". Mucho means "a lot" or "much" and is used with nouns or after verbs. Since alto is an adjective describing the building, muy is the correct word to use.
Does the word El need an accent mark in this sentence?
No, it doesn't. The word el without an accent mark means "the" (used for masculine nouns like edificio). If it had an accent mark (él), it would mean "he".

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