él es
/el es/from spelling rules
The Spanish phrase for "he is" is él es.
él es is used to identify a male person or to describe his inherent characteristics.
Which one should you use?
Use él es when describing permanent characteristics or a person's identity. If you are describing a temporary state or a person's location, use él está instead.
How does it change in a sentence?
The pronoun él is often omitted in Spanish if the context makes it clear who is being discussed.
How do you pronounce it?
/el es/
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not forget the accent mark on él. Writing it as el es changes the meaning from "he is" to "the is".
Did you know?
- Using él es to describe someone's mood instead of él está can suggest that the person is naturally grumpy or sad as a personality trait.
- The word es shares an ancient ancestor with the Sanskrit word ásti, showing how deeply connected these distant languages are.
- In many Spanish dialects, the 's' at the end of es might be softened or aspirated, sounding almost like a breath of air rather than a sharp 's'.
Examples in context
- Él es la ley.He is the law.This sentence is useful for showing how to identify someone with a specific role or status using él es.Tatoeba #1133075 by cueyayotl, translation #1133021 by bluepie88
- Él es mi tío.He is my uncle.This sentence is useful for identifying a male relative using él es.Tatoeba #1249591 by Shishir, translation #297898 by CK
- Él es mi jefe.He is my boss.This sentence is useful for identifying a male person's professional relationship using él es.Tatoeba #1190129 by marcelostockle, translation #297905 by CK
- Él es un abogado reconocido.He is a renowned lawyer.
- Él está ocupado en una reunión.He is busy in a meeting.
- Él se llama Alejandro y es el nuevo director de la empresa.His name is Alejandro, and he is the new company director.
- Él es mi mejor amigo.He is my best friend.
- Él está cansado después de trabajar todo el día.He is tired after working all day.
- ¿Sabes quién es? Él se llama Marco y es muy divertido.Do you know who he is? His name is Marco, and he is very funny.
- Él es médico y trabaja en un hospital.He is a doctor and works at a hospital.
- 952 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Daniel and Sofía are looking at a photo of a man.
- Daniel¿Quién es el hombre de la foto?Who is the man in the photo?
- SofíaÉl es mi hermano.He is my brother.
- DanielAh, él es muy alto.Ah, he is very tall.
- SofíaSí, es muy deportista.Yes, he is very athletic.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries es, él, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
