Choosing an Event Activity | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Disculpe, ¿en qué eventos podemos participar ahora?

   Excuse me, which events can we join now?

   Disculpe

   Excuse me

   en qué

   which / in what

   eventos

   events

   podemos

   can / are able to

   participar

   participate / take part

   ahora

   now

   More detail

   Disculpe is a polite way to get someone’s attention or apologize briefly: “Excuse me.” It is the formal singular form addressed to one person; the familiar singular form is disculpa. Here it introduces the question rather than describing an event. en qué combines the preposition en (“in/at”) with the accented interrogative qué (“what/which”). Together, en qué asks which option or setting is involved. The accent in qué marks its interrogative use; compare the unaccented conjunction que in other contexts. eventos means “events.” It is the plural of evento; the final -s marks more than one. The noun is the thing being selected: the question asks which events are available for participation. podemos is the present-tense first-person plural form of poder, “to be able to” or “can.” podemos expresses what the speaker and at least one other person can do. The subject is included in the verb form, so Spanish does not need an explicit nosotros here. A useful pattern is podemos + infinitive, as in Podemos elegir — “We can choose.” participar is the infinitive “to participate” or “to take part.” After podemos, it stays in the infinitive: podemos participar means “we can participate.” The preposition en links the activity to the events: participar en un evento means “to take part in an event.” ahora means “now,” locating the possible participation in the present time. It modifies the whole possibility expressed by podemos participar, not the noun eventos. Together, en qué eventos asks for the events, podemos participar asks which ones the speaker’s group can take part in, and ahora limits that possibility to the present. With the polite opener, the complete utterance means: “Excuse me, which events can we join now?”

2. Pueden elegir entre una caminata guiada y una sesión de baile.

   You can choose between a guided walk and a dance session.

   Pueden

   can / are able to

   elegir

   choose

   entre … y

   between … and …

   caminata

   walk / walking trip

   guiada

   guided

   sesión

   session

   baile

   dance

   More detail

   Pueden is a present-tense form of poder (“to be able to,” “can”). Its ending is third-person plural, so it can refer to ellos/ellas or to ustedes; in this utterance, the fixed translation presents it as addressing “you.” Poder + infinitive expresses ability or permission, and the following infinitive stays unchanged: pueden elegir = “can choose.” Elegir means “to choose.” It is an infinitive, the form used after poder. Example: Puedes elegir una opción. — “You can choose one option.” Entre ... y ... introduces the alternatives in a choice: “between ... and ...”. Here it connects una caminata guiada with una sesión de baile. The two alternatives are not presented as replacements that exclude both; the sentence says that the choice is from these two options. Caminata is a feminine noun meaning a walk or walking trip. The indefinite article una and the adjective guiada match its feminine singular form. Guiada means “guided”; it is the feminine singular form of guiado, agreeing with caminata. Example: La caminata es guiada. — “The walk is guided.” Sesión is a feminine noun meaning a session. Its accent mark is part of the spelling. Baile is a noun meaning “dance” or “dancing”; in sesión de baile, de baile specifies the type of session. Example: La sesión de baile empieza ahora. — “The dance session starts now.” Together, pueden elegir entre ... y ... means “can choose between ... and ...”. The two choices are una caminata guiada, “a guided walk,” and una sesión de baile, “a dance session.” Thus the complete utterance means: “You can choose between a guided walk and a dance session.”

3. ¿Cómo es la caminata guiada?

   What is the guided walk like?

   ¿Cómo es

   what is ... like?

   caminata

   walk

   guiada

   guided

   More detail

   ¿Cómo es asks for the characteristics or nature of something: “What is … like?” Here, cómo has an accent because it introduces a direct question, and es is the third-person singular present form of ser (“to be”). This pattern is reusable with a singular subject: ¿Cómo es la película? — “What is the film like?” For plural subjects, Spanish uses ¿Cómo son...?: ¿Cómo son las clases? — “What are the classes like?” caminata is a feminine singular noun meaning a walk or walking outing. Its article in the sentence is la, and the plural is caminatas. It is related to the verb caminar (“to walk”), but caminata itself names the activity or outing, not the act of walking in a particular verb form. Example: La caminata dura una hora. — “The walk lasts an hour.” guiada means “guided” here and describes caminata. It is the feminine singular form of the adjective guiado/guiada, so it agrees with the feminine singular noun caminata. The masculine singular form is guiado, as in un recorrido guiado (“a guided tour”). Example: La visita es guiada. — “The visit is guided.” Together, la caminata guiada means “the guided walk”: la identifies the noun phrase, caminata names the walk, and guiada specifies that it is guided. The question ¿Cómo es la caminata guiada? therefore asks about the characteristics or experience of that guided walk, not whether it exists or who leads it. The whole utterance is: “What is the guided walk like?”

4. Un guía dirige la caminata a un ritmo lento.

   A guide leads the walk at a slow pace.

   guía

   guide

   dirige

   leads

   caminata

   walk

   ritmo

   pace

   lento

   slow

   More detail

   guía means “guide” here: the person who leads the walk. In this sentence, un shows that this person is masculine, so the noun phrase is un guía. The noun guía can also refer to a female guide with una guía; the article, not the final -a alone, identifies the form used here. dirige means “leads” in this sentence. It is the present-tense, third-person singular form of dirigir (“to lead” or “to direct”), agreeing with un guía. Example: La profesora dirige el grupo. — “The teacher leads the group.” caminata means “walk” or “walking outing.” It is a feminine noun: la caminata. The related adjective in the preceding context, guiada, agrees with it in la caminata guiada; that context describes the walk, while the fixed sentence states that a guide leads it. ritmo means “pace” here, though it can also mean “rhythm.” It is masculine: el ritmo. The reusable pattern a un ritmo + adjective means “at a(n) ... pace.” Example: Corre a un ritmo rápido. — “He/She runs at a fast pace.” lento means “slow.” It is an adjective modifying ritmo, so it appears as masculine singular: ritmo lento. Its feminine singular form is lenta, as in una caminata lenta; plural forms are lentos and lentas when the noun is plural. Together, Un guía dirige la caminata says “A guide leads the walk.” The phrase a un ritmo lento adds the manner: “at a slow pace.” The complete utterance therefore means “A guide leads the walk at a slow pace.”

5. Así que es fácil de seguir.

   So it is easy to follow.

   Así que

   so; therefore

   fácil

   easy

   seguir

   to follow

   More detail

   Así que introduces a result or conclusion: “so” or “therefore.” It links this sentence to something established earlier. Example: Está lloviendo, así que llevo un paraguas. — “It is raining, so I am carrying an umbrella.” fácil means “easy” here. It is the singular form of the adjective; its plural is fáciles. Spanish adjectives normally agree with the noun or subject they describe, but fácil does not show a masculine–feminine difference in the singular: un ejercicio fácil and una tarea fácil. es is the third-person singular present form of ser, “to be.” The sentence has no explicit subject, and the fixed translation supports the general meaning “it is easy,” without identifying a particular noun as the subject. ser is used here to describe something as having the quality of being easy. seguir is the infinitive “to follow.” After fácil de, an infinitive expresses an action that is easy to perform: Es fácil de entender. — “It is easy to understand.” The infinitive itself does not mark a person or number. In this sentence, seguir keeps the intended meaning “to follow”; the object is understood from context rather than stated in the utterance. Together, es fácil de seguir means “is easy to follow.” With the result connector at the beginning, Así que es fácil de seguir means “So it is easy to follow.” The reusable pattern is Así que + es + adjective + de + infinitive, meaning “So it is + adjective + to [verb].”

6. Parece fácil para un primer intento.

   That sounds manageable for a first try.

   Parece

   seems

   fácil

   easy; manageable

   primer

   first

   intento

   attempt; try

   More detail

   Parece is the present-tense third-person singular form of parecer, “to seem” or “to appear.” Here it presents the assessment as an impression: “seems,” not a direct statement that something is objectively easy. Spanish commonly uses an unstated subject with this form when the context identifies what is being assessed; the supplied sentence does not specify that subject more precisely. fácil means “easy” here, with the compatible sense “manageable.” It is a singular adjective; its spelling is the same with masculine and feminine singular nouns, while the plural form is fáciles. For example: La tarea parece fácil. — “The task seems easy.” primer is the shortened form of primero used immediately before a masculine singular noun. The full form is primero in other positions or uses, while primera agrees with a feminine singular noun. For example: el primer día — “the first day”; la primera vez — “the first time.” intento is a masculine singular noun meaning “attempt” or “try.” In this sentence it names the try itself, as shown by un primer intento. The same spelling can also be a first-person present form of intentar (“I try”), but that is not its role here. The pattern para + noun phrase identifies the situation or purpose for which the assessment applies: para un primer intento, “for a first try.” Un is an indefinite article; it introduces the singular noun phrase but does not by itself assert a numerical count. Together, un primer intento means “a first attempt.” Combining the parts, Parece fácil gives “It seems easy” or, with the fixed translation’s nuance, “That sounds manageable.” para un primer intento limits this assessment to the context of trying it for the first time. The whole utterance therefore means: “That sounds manageable for a first try.”

7. ¿La sesión de baile es muy activa?

   How active is the dance session?

   sesión

   session

   baile

   dance

   activa

   active

   More detail

   sesión means “session” here. It is a feminine singular noun, so the article is la and the adjective later appears as activa. The plural is sesiones. baile means “dance” here. In sesión de baile, de baile identifies the kind of session: a dance session. Baile can also refer to a dance as an activity or event. activa means “active” here and describes sesión. Its base form is activo; the feminine singular form is activa, agreeing with the feminine singular noun sesión. For comparison, más activa means “more active.” The pattern ¿... es muy + adjective? asks about the degree of a quality: ¿La sesión es muy activa? means “Is the session very active?” Here, es is the third-person singular present form of ser, matching the singular subject la sesión. The complete question asks how active the dance session is: “How active is the dance session?”

8. Es más rápida, con pasos sencillos en grupo.

   It moves faster, with simple steps in a group.

   Es

   is

   más rápida

   faster

   pasos

   steps

   sencillos

   simple

   en grupo

   in a group

   More detail

   Es is the third-person singular present form of ser (“to be”). Here it connects an implicit singular subject with the description that follows. The feminine singular form rápida identifies the subject’s grammatical gender, but the sentence by itself does not name that subject explicitly. Example: La sesión es rápida. — “The session is fast.” más rápida compares the subject with something else: más + adjective means “more [adjective]” or “-er.” The adjective is rápida, whose base form is rápido; it is feminine singular here to agree with the subject. The comparison may be left understood, as in this sentence, or stated with que: La sesión es más rápida que la caminata. — “The session is faster than the walk.” pasos is the plural of the masculine noun paso, “step.” The plural ending shows that more than one step is meant. sencillos is the masculine plural form of sencillo, “simple,” and agrees with pasos: paso sencillo, pasos sencillos. Example: Son pasos sencillos. — “They are simple steps.” The unselected word con introduces what accompanies or characterizes the action or process: con pasos sencillos means “with simple steps.” In en grupo, en marks the arrangement or setting, and grupo means “group”; together they mean “in a group.” This phrase describes how the steps are carried out, not a replacement for the steps. Putting the parts together, Es más rápida says that the understood subject is faster, while con pasos sencillos en grupo adds that this is achieved or characterized by simple steps performed in a group. The complete meaning is: “It moves faster, with simple steps in a group.”

9. La caminata guiada es mejor para nosotros.

   The guided walk suits us better.

   caminata

   walk; hike

   guiada

   guided

   mejor

   better

   para nosotros

   for us

   More detail

   caminata is a noun meaning a walk or hike. It refers to the activity itself; the article la and the adjective guiada show that this noun is feminine singular. A useful related contrast is caminar, the verb “to walk,” while caminata names a walk as an activity. guiada means “guided” here. It is the feminine singular form of the adjective or past-participle form guiado, agreeing with feminine singular caminata. The masculine form is guiado, and plural forms are guiados or guiadas according to the noun’s gender and number. Example: una visita guiada — “a guided visit.” mejor means “better.” It is the comparative form associated with bueno (“good”); its singular form is mejor, while the plural is mejores. In this sentence, it compares how suitable this option is for the group, rather than simply describing the walk as good. Example: Esta opción es mejor. — “This option is better.” para nosotros means “for us.” nosotros is the first-person plural pronoun used for a male or mixed-gender group; an all-female group uses nosotras. The preposition para can mark the person for whom something is suitable: Es mejor para mí — “It is better for me.” Together, La caminata guiada identifies the guided walk, and es mejor para nosotros says that this option is more suitable for the speakers’ group. The whole utterance therefore means “The guided walk suits us better.”