Even many very simple sentences can't be translated word for word into English.

If someone were to tell you, "Soy de Guatemala" and you knew that that soy is a form of the verb ser or "to be" and that de usually means "from" or "of," you wouldn't have a hard time figuring out that the sentence means "I am from Guatemala."

However, understanding ser when followed by de isn't always that straightforward. For example, try translating a sentence such as "La casa es de dos pisos" word for word and it won't make a lot of sense. You can learn more in this lesson; if you have questions, feel free to ask them by following the Comments link below.