Learn Spanish (Spain): No salpiques a tu hermana, está enfadada.

No salpiques a tu hermana, está enfadada.

Do not splash your sister, she is angry.

Breakdown of No salpiques a tu hermana, está enfadada.

to be (location/state)

enfadado

angry

Questions & Answers about No salpiques a tu hermana, está enfadada.

Why does salpiques end in -es if the verb is salpicar (an -ar verb)?

In Spanish, when you tell someone not to do something (the negative imperative), the vowel endings swap. For -ar verbs like salpicar, the tú ending becomes -es instead of -as. This is why "don't splash" is no salpiques.

Why is it spelled with qu (salpiques) instead of just keeping the c from salpicar?

If we just added -es to the root, we would get salpices. In Spanish, a c before an e or i makes a soft sound (like "th" in Spain or "s" in Latin America). To keep the hard "k" sound of the original verb, we have to change the spelling from c to qu.

Why is there an a before tu hermana?

This is the "personal a". In Spanish, whenever the direct object of a verb (the person receiving the action) is a specific person or pet, you must put the word a right in front of them. Since the sister is the person being splashed, she gets the personal a.

Why do we use está instead of es for "she is angry"?