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La pensión es pequeña, pero muy limpia.

La pensión es pequeña, pero muy limpia.
The guesthouse is small, but very clean.
From Lesson 137:Holidays (el alojamiento, hacer la maleta)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about La pensión es pequeña, pero muy limpia.

Doesn't the word pensión mean retirement money?
It can, but in Spain, a pensión is also a small, budget-friendly guesthouse or boarding house. Words like this that look like English words but mean something else are known as false friends.
Why does the sentence use es (from ser) instead of está (from estar) for clean? Isn't cleanliness a temporary state?
Usually, yes! If you are talking about a room being clean right now, you would use estar. However, using es here means that the guesthouse is a clean place by its very nature or reputation. It is a permanent characteristic of the business, not just its current state after being mopped today.
Does limpia still have to end in -a even though it comes after pero?
Yes! Even though it is separated from la pensión by a comma and the word pero, the adjective limpia is still describing the guesthouse. Because pensión is a feminine noun, both pequeña and limpia must use the feminine -a ending.
Do I need to repeat the verb and say pero es muy limpia?
You can, but it is not necessary. Just like in English, if the verb is exactly the same, you can leave it out to sound more natural and avoid repeating es.

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