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La salud es lo más importante.

La salud es lo más importante.
Health is the most important thing.
From Lesson 123:Health and emergencies (la salud, las urgencias)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about La salud es lo más importante.

Why do we say La salud instead of just Salud?
In Spanish, when you talk about an abstract concept or a noun in a general sense (like health, time, or love), you must use a definite article (el, la, los, or las). English usually leaves it out, which is why "Health is..." becomes La salud es...
What is the word lo doing in this sentence?
Here, lo is a neuter article. When you combine lo with an adjective, it turns that adjective into a noun phrase meaning "the [adjective] thing". So, lo importante means "the important thing".
Why isn't there a Spanish word for "thing" in the translation?
The word lo already builds the idea of "thing" into the phrase. lo más importante translates directly to "the most important thing" or "that which is most important". You don't need to add a word like cosa (thing) because lo does that job automatically.
Why do we use es (from ser) instead of está (from estar)?
Even though a person's health can change, we use ser here because we are stating a universal fact and defining a core characteristic. We are saying what health is fundamentally, not describing a temporary condition.

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