Repeating and practicing a sentence | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Puedes decir eso otra vez?

   Can you say that again?

   Puedes

   can you

   decir

   say

   eso

   that

   otra vez

   again

   More detail

   Puedes is the tú form of poder in the present tense: “you can” or “are you able to.” Here, followed by an infinitive, it forms a request: ¿Puedes + infinitive ...? The form identifies one familiar or informal singular listener; it is not the usted or ustedes form. Example: ¿Puedes abrir la ventana? — “Can you open the window?” decir is the infinitive “to say” or “to tell.” After a form of poder, Spanish uses the infinitive: puedes decir — “you can say.” Useful forms include digo — “I say” — and diré — “I will say”; these forms are irregular rather than being formed by simply adding the regular endings to decir. Example: Quiero decir algo. — “I want to say something.” eso is the demonstrative pronoun “that,” referring to a thing, statement, or idea understood from the situation. As a neuter demonstrative, it does not identify a particular noun here and is not replaced by a masculine or feminine noun form. Esto means “this,” while eso points to “that.” Example: ¿Qué es eso? — “What is that?” otra vez is an adverbial phrase meaning “again” or “once more.” Otra is the feminine singular form of otro; in this fixed phrase, it combines with vez (“time” or “occasion”) to express repetition. Example: Léelo otra vez. — “Read it again.” Together, ¿Puedes decir eso otra vez? asks one informal singular listener whether they can repeat that content. The question combines the request pattern ¿Puedes + infinitive?, the content being repeated (eso), and the repetition phrase (otra vez), giving the whole meaning “Can you say that again?”

2. Lo diré una vez más.

   I will say it one more time.

   Lo

   it

   diré

   I will say

   una vez más

   one more time

   More detail

   Lo is a Spanish direct-object clitic pronoun meaning “it” here. The fixed translation identifies the object only as “it”; it does not identify a specific referent. In Spanish, lo can refer to a masculine singular noun or to a neuter idea or piece of content, so this form alone does not establish which kind of referent is intended. For noun objects, compare la for feminine singular and los/las for plural objects. Spanish object clitics usually come before a finite verb: Lo digo means “I say it.” diré is the first-person singular future form of decir, “to say” or “to tell.” This verb uses the future stem dir-: diré means “I will say,” dirás means “you will say,” and dirá means “he, she, or you formal will say.” The ending -é marks first-person singular in this future form, so the subject is “I,” even though Spanish commonly leaves the subject pronoun unspoken. una vez más expresses repetition: “one more time” or “once again.” vez is the noun “time” meaning an occurrence, and más adds another occurrence. Example: Léelo una vez más — “Read it one more time.” Together, Lo + diré means “I will say it,” and una vez más adds that the saying will happen another time. The whole utterance therefore means “I will say it one more time.”

3. Ahora entiendo.

   Now I understand.

   Ahora

   now

   entiendo

   I understand

   More detail

   Ahora means “now” and places the understanding at the present moment. It can also introduce a change from an earlier state, but here the fixed meaning simply says that the speaker understands now. Example: Ahora estudio. — “Now I study.” entiendo is the first-person singular present form of entender, “to understand.” The ending -o identifies the speaker as “I”; the stem also changes from e to ie in this present-tense form: entender → entiendo. Compare entiendes for “you understand” and entiende for “he, she, or you (formal) understand(s).” Example: Entiendo la pregunta. — “I understand the question.” Together, Ahora entiendo. means “Now I understand.” The subject “I” is expressed by the verb form entiendo, so Spanish does not need a separate subject pronoun here. The sentence presents understanding as true at the current moment.

4. Practiquemos la frase juntos.

   Let's practice the sentence together.

   Practiquemos

   Let’s practice

   frase

   sentence

   juntos

   together

   More detail

   Practiquemos comes from practicar (“to practice”). Its form is the first-person plural present subjunctive, used here as a suggestion that includes the speaker: “let’s practice.” Compare practico (“I practice”) and practicamos (“we practice” as a statement). Example: Practiquemos otra vez. — “Let’s practice again.” frase means “sentence” here. It is a feminine noun, as shown by the article la; the noun itself remains singular. Example: La frase es corta. — “The sentence is short.” juntos means “together.” It is the masculine plural form of junto and agrees with the plural group included in the suggestion. Spanish uses the masculine plural form for a mixed-gender group as well; the exact participants’ genders are not specified here. Example: Trabajemos juntos. — “Let’s work together.” Together, Practiquemos la frase juntos means “Let’s practice the sentence together.” The first-person plural suggestion supplies the shared action, la frase identifies what will be practiced, and juntos states that the participants do it together.

5. La primera parte todavía es difícil para mí.

   The first part is still hard for me.

   primera

   first

   parte

   part

   todavía

   still

   es

   is

   difícil

   difficult; hard

   para mí

   for me

   More detail

   primera means “first” here and is the feminine singular form of primero, agreeing with the feminine singular noun parte. The masculine form is primer before a masculine singular noun in some positions, while primera is used with a feminine singular noun. Example: la primera pregunta — “the first question.” parte means “part” or “section.” It is a feminine noun, so the phrase uses la primera parte. Example: Esta parte es corta. — “This part is short.” todavía means “still” here: the difficulty continues at the stated time. It is different from ya, which commonly presents a situation as having begun, changed, or been completed by that time. Example: Todavía estudio español. — “I am still studying Spanish.” es is the third-person singular present form of ser, “to be.” Here it links la primera parte with the description difícil. Example: La pregunta es clara. — “The question is clear.” difícil means “difficult” or “hard” here. Its singular form is the same with masculine and feminine nouns; its plural form is difíciles. Example: Los ejercicios son difíciles. — “The exercises are difficult.” para mí means “for me,” identifying the person who experiences or assesses the difficulty. mí is the stressed pronoun used after a preposition such as para; it is distinct from mi, the possessive word meaning “my.” Example: Este ejercicio es fácil para mí. — “This exercise is easy for me.” Together, La primera parte identifies the first section, todavía says that the situation continues, es difícil describes that section as hard, and para mí identifies the speaker as the person for whom it is hard. The complete meaning is: “The first part is still hard for me.”

6. Podemos practicar esa parte despacio.

   We can practice that part slowly.

   Podemos

   we can

   practicar

   practice

   esa

   that

   parte

   part

   despacio

   slowly

   More detail

   Podemos is the first-person plural present form of poder (“can; be able to”). It expresses ability or possibility for “we,” and it is followed here by an infinitive: podemos practicar = “we can practice.” Compare puedo (“I can”) and pueden (“they/you plural can”). practicar is the infinitive “to practice.” After poder, Spanish uses the infinitive for the action that is possible: Podemos practicar (“We can practice”). The same verb can be used for practicing a skill, activity, or subject. esa is the feminine singular form of the demonstrative meaning “that.” It agrees with the feminine singular noun parte; the form is not masculine ese or plural esas. In this utterance, it identifies the part being practiced as “that part,” consistently with the preceding context about a first part. parte is a feminine noun meaning “part” or “section.” Its singular form refers to one section; the plural partes refers to more than one. esa parte forms the noun phrase “that part.” despacio is an adverb meaning “slowly.” It describes how the practice happens and does not change to agree with parte or with the people practicing. For example, Habla despacio means “Speak slowly.” Together, Podemos practicar states the shared ability or possibility, esa parte identifies the object of practice, and despacio specifies the manner. The whole utterance therefore means: “We can practice that part slowly.”