Signing up for a walking event | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Cuánto cuesta participar en el evento de caminata?

   How much does it cost to join the walking event?

   ¿Cuánto

   how much

   cuesta

   costs

   participar

   to take part

   evento

   event

   caminata

   walk

   More detail

   ¿Cuánto asks about an amount: here, the amount of money. The accent mark distinguishes question cuánto from the unstressed form cuanto used in other structures. Spanish changes this word for gender and number when it agrees with a noun: cuánto, cuánta, cuántos, cuántas; in ¿Cuánto cuesta...?, it asks how much something costs. cuesta is the third-person singular present form of costar, “to cost.” The singular form fits the activity expressed by the infinitive phrase participar en el evento de caminata, which functions as what has a price. The useful question pattern is ¿Cuánto cuesta + noun or activity? Example: ¿Cuánto cuesta la entrada? — “How much does the ticket cost?” participar is the infinitive “to participate” or “to take part.” A common reusable pattern is participar en + activity or event: Quiero participar en la carrera. — “I want to take part in the race.” In this sentence, participar en means joining or taking part in the event; it does not specify who the participant is. evento is a masculine noun meaning “event.” Its article is el in the phrase el evento. Spanish nouns have grammatical gender, so the form of a related article or adjective can depend on the noun: el evento, but la caminata. caminata is a feminine noun for a walk or walking activity. In evento de caminata, de links the event with its type or purpose, giving “walking event.” The noun remains feminine even though the larger noun phrase evento de caminata is headed by masculine evento. Together, ¿Cuánto cuesta asks for the price, and participar en el evento de caminata identifies what the price applies to. The complete meaning is: “How much does it cost to join the walking event?”

2. Es gratis para los residentes de la ciudad.

   It is free for city residents.

   Es

   is

   gratis

   free

   para

   for

   residentes

   residents

   ciudad

   city

   More detail

   Es is the present-tense form of ser for a third-person singular subject. Here it describes the thing understood from the context as being free: “is.” The subject is not stated as a separate noun in this sentence. gratis means “free of charge.” It is an adjective that does not change for masculine/feminine or singular/plural: La entrada es gratis means “The entrance is free,” and Las entradas son gratis means “The tickets are free.” para introduces the people who receive or are covered by the stated benefit. Here, the benefit applies to the residents; this use is not the same as por, which commonly marks a cause or means. residentes is the plural of the noun residente, “resident.” The ending -es marks plural here: el residente and la residente are singular, while los residentes and las residentes are plural. The noun form residentes is the same for masculine and feminine; los is the masculine plural article used with this group in the sentence. ciudad means “city.” It is a feminine singular noun, as shown by la ciudad. The phrase de la ciudad means “of the city” and specifies which residents are meant. de connects the residents with the city to which they are related. Together, para los residentes de la ciudad means “for the residents of the city.” Combined with Es gratis, the whole utterance means “It is free for city residents.” In the supplied context, this states that participating in the walking event costs nothing for that group.

3. Nos gustaría inscribirnos juntos.

   We would like to sign up together.

   Nos gustaría

   we would like

   inscribirnos

   to sign up

   juntos

   together

   More detail

   Nos gustaría means “we would like.” The conditional form gustaría comes from gustar and expresses a polite or hypothetical desire. In this pattern, nos means “to us,” while the thing desired is the following infinitive phrase; that is why gustaría is singular rather than a form agreeing with “we.” Compare: Nos gustaría descansar. — “We would like to rest.” Inscribirnos means “to sign up/enroll ourselves.” Its base form is the infinitive inscribir, “to enroll/register,” combined with the reflexive pronoun nos. The pronoun shows that the people who sign up are the same people represented by nos: “we would like to sign ourselves up.” Spanish attaches this pronoun to an infinitive. Example: Queremos inscribirnos hoy. — “We want to sign up today.” Juntos means “together.” It is the masculine plural form of the adjective junto, and here it agrees with the understood plural subject “we.” Juntas would be used for an all-female group. Example: Vamos juntos. — “We are going together.” Together, Nos gustaría inscribirnos juntos expresses “We would like to sign up together”: the speakers politely state a shared wish to register, with the same people doing the registering and going through the process together.

4. Por favor, escriban sus nombres, direcciones y números de teléfono en este formulario.

   Please write your names, addresses, and phone numbers on this form.

   Por favor

   please

   escriban

   write

   sus

   your

   nombres

   names

   direcciones

   addresses

   números

   numbers

   teléfono

   phone

   este

   this

   formulario

   form

   More detail

   Por favor is a polite request marker meaning “please.” It does not change who is being addressed or the command’s grammatical form. Escriban is the affirmative command form for ustedes (you plural): “write.” The ending -an here belongs to the command form of escribir; it is not the singular tú command. Example: Escriban aquí. — “Write here.” Sus means “your” for one or more owners when the thing possessed is plural, and it can also mean “their” in other contexts. Here the fixed translation identifies the owners as the people being addressed, so sus nombres, direcciones y números means “your names, addresses, and phone numbers.” Sus agrees with the plural items possessed, not with the number of owners. Compare su nombre — “your name” — with sus nombres — “your names.” Nombres is the plural of nombre, “name.” The plural ending -es is used because the request concerns names in the plural. Example: Escriba su nombre. — “Write your name.” Direcciones is the plural of dirección, “address.” The singular is dirección; direcciones refers to multiple addresses. In this sentence it is another item in the list of information to write. Números is the plural of número, “number.” The accent remains on número and números. Here it means numbers, specifically the phone numbers identified by the following phrase de teléfono. Teléfono means “telephone” or “phone.” In números de teléfono, the pattern número(s) de + noun identifies the type of number: números de teléfono means “phone numbers.” The noun teléfono is singular because it names the category, not a count of phones. Este means “this” and is the masculine singular demonstrative used with formulario. It marks one nearby or contextually relevant masculine singular item. Compare esta dirección — “this address,” where the demonstrative matches feminine singular dirección. Formulario means “form.” Its plural is formularios. The phrase este formulario is “this form”: este matches the masculine singular noun formulario. Together, escriban supplies the plural command, and sus nombres, direcciones y números de teléfono lists the information the addressees should write. En este formulario identifies the place or medium: “on this form.” The complete utterance therefore means: “Please write your names, addresses, and phone numbers on this form.”

5. ¿También debemos añadir una dirección de correo electrónico?

   Should we add an email address too?

   También

   also; too

   debemos

   we should; we must

   añadir

   to add

   dirección de correo electrónico

   email address

   More detail

   También adds this action or item to something already mentioned: “also” or “too.” Here it makes adding an email address an additional possibility alongside the information already being requested. Example: También necesito tu número. — “I also need your number.” debemos is the first-person plural present form of deber (“to have to,” “should,” or “must”). The ending -emos identifies “we”; the form does not itself identify a gender. In this question, debemos asks whether adding the address is something the speakers ought to do, with the exact force supplied by context. Compare debemos (“we should / must”) with debemos añadir (“we should / must add”), where the following infinitive names the action. Example: Debemos revisar el formulario. — “We should review the form.” añadir is an infinitive meaning “to add.” After debemos, Spanish uses the infinitive: debemos añadir = “we should/must add.” The infinitive does not mark the subject here; debemos carries the “we” information. Example: Vamos a añadir una nota. — “We are going to add a note.” dirección de correo electrónico is the noun phrase “email address.” dirección is the main noun, and de correo electrónico specifies what kind of address it is. The feminine article una agrees with dirección; it introduces the noun phrase but does not by itself assert a numerical count beyond the singular grammatical form. Example: Tengo una dirección de correo electrónico nueva. — “I have a new email address.” Together, También debemos añadir una dirección de correo electrónico? forms a question about whether “we” should or must add an email address as an additional item. The opening ¿ and closing ? mark the question in Spanish. The fixed translation is: “Should we add an email address too?” In the supplied context, this is an additional question about the information being requested, and the following statement indicates that this part is optional.

6. Esa parte es opcional.

   That part is optional.

   Esa

   that

   parte

   part

   opcional

   optional

   More detail

   Esa means “that” here. It is a feminine singular demonstrative, agreeing with parte. Spanish demonstratives vary by gender and number: ese is masculine singular, esas feminine plural, and esos masculine plural. Here, the fixed translation identifies the referent as “that part.” parte means “part.” It is a feminine noun, so it combines with esa in this sentence. The demonstrative does not itself state a numerical count; the sentence simply identifies a part. opcional means “optional.” It describes something that is not required. This adjective has the same written form in masculine and feminine singular contexts; its plural form is opcionales: un paso opcional, “an optional step”; dos partes opcionales, “two optional parts.” The linking verb es is the present-tense third-person singular form of ser, “to be.” The pattern Esa parte es opcional is demonstrative + noun + ser + adjective. Together, the words mean “That part is optional”: the identified part is not required, without stating that it must be included or omitted.

7. ¿Qué enviarán si añadimos una?

   What will you send if we add one?

   ¿Qué

   what

   enviarán

   will send

   si

   if

   añadimos

   we add

   una

   one

   More detail

   ¿Qué asks for the thing or information that will be sent. The accent marks it as an interrogative; compare que without an accent, which is used in other grammatical roles. Example: ¿Qué necesitas? — “What do you need?” enviarán is the future form of enviar (“to send”) for third-person plural subjects. In the intended translation, it addresses plural “you” (ustedes): “you will send.” The ending itself is also compatible with “they will send”; the translation supplies the intended participant here. The useful future chain is enviar → enviarán (“will send” for a third-person-plural subject). Example: Ellos enviarán el documento. — “They will send the document.” si introduces a condition and has no accent in this use. Spanish commonly uses the present indicative after si for a condition connected to a future result: si añadimos means “if we add.” Do not confuse it with accented sí, “yes.” añadimos comes from añadir (“to add”) and is the first-person plural present form: “we add.” In this conditional, the present form refers to a possible future action, rather than making the whole situation present-time. Example: Si añadimos una opción, cambiaremos el formulario. — “If we add an option, we will change the form.” una is a feminine singular form used here on its own for “one” or “one [feminine item],” with the noun understood rather than repeated. Its feminine form must agree with the omitted noun; uno is the corresponding masculine form when that agreement is required. The sentence does not state the noun explicitly, so the form identifies its grammatical gender and singular number without naming the item. Together, ¿Qué enviarán? asks what the intended plural “you” will send. si añadimos una adds the condition “if we add one,” producing: “What will you send if we add one?”

8. Enviaremos el horario del próximo evento.

   We will send the schedule for the next event.

   Enviaremos

   we will send

   horario

   schedule

   próximo

   next

   evento

   event

   More detail

   Enviaremos means “we will send.” It is the first-person plural future form of enviar (“to send”): enviaré = I will send, enviaremos = we will send. The subject is understood as nosotros/nosotras; Spanish often leaves this pronoun unstated when the verb ending identifies it. For comparison, enviarán in the preceding question means “they/you all will send,” not “we will send.” horario is a masculine noun meaning “schedule” or “timetable.” Its plural is horarios. In this sentence, el horario is the thing that will be sent; the article el marks this noun phrase as masculine singular. próximo means “next” here. It is the masculine singular form of the adjective próximo, agreeing with the masculine singular noun evento: el próximo evento. The feminine singular form is próxima, as in la próxima reunión (“the next meeting”); plural forms include próximos and próximas. evento means “event,” a masculine noun. Its plural is eventos. The phrase del próximo evento means “for/of the next event”: del combines de (“of/for”) with el (“the”). Together, enviaremos el horario means “we will send the schedule,” and del próximo evento specifies which schedule: it is the schedule for the next event. The complete utterance is therefore “We will send the schedule for the next event.”