Rest your eyes from the screen | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Tengo los ojos cansados.

   My eyes are tired.

   Tengo

   I have

   ojos

   eyes

   cansados

   tired

   More detail

   Tengo is the first-person singular present form of tener (“to have”): yo tengo. It expresses possession or a condition associated with the speaker. Example: Tengo frío. — “I am cold.” Spanish often uses tener for physical states that English expresses with “to be.” ojos is the plural of ojo, “eye.” The plural ending -s shows that there is more than one eye. Example: Mis ojos están abiertos. — “My eyes are open.” cansados means “tired” here and is the masculine plural form of the adjective cansado. It agrees with ojos, which is masculine plural: ojo → ojos, cansado → cansados. The adjective’s base form is cansado; the feminine plural form is cansadas, used with a feminine plural noun. Example: Tengo los pies cansados. — “My feet are tired.” Together, Tengo los ojos cansados literally follows the Spanish pattern “I have the eyes tired,” with tener presenting a physical condition associated with the speaker. In natural English, it means “My eyes are tired.”

2. Tómate un descanso corto de la pantalla.

   Take a short break from the screen.

   Tómate

   take for yourself

   descanso

   break; rest

   corto

   short

   pantalla

   screen

   More detail

   Tómate is the affirmative imperative of tomar for tú (one familiar person). The attached te makes the expression pronominal here: tomarse un descanso means to take a break for oneself. The accent in tómate preserves the original stress after the pronoun is attached. Example: Tómate un momento. — “Take a moment.” descanso is a masculine singular noun meaning a break or rest. Its plural is descansos; the related verb is descansar, “to rest.” Example: Necesito un descanso. — “I need a break.” corto is an adjective modifying descanso, so it is masculine singular. Its forms include corto, corta, cortos, and cortas, matching the noun’s gender and number. The useful contrast is largo, “long.” Example: un descanso largo — “a long break.” pantalla is a feminine singular noun meaning “screen.” With de, the phrase de la pantalla identifies the source or thing from which the break is taken: “from the screen.” Example: La pantalla está encendida. — “The screen is on.” Together, Tómate un descanso corto de la pantalla means “Take a short break from the screen.” The command addresses one familiar listener (tú), and un descanso corto is the break being recommended; de la pantalla specifies what the listener should take a break from. The wording is a natural, neutral suggestion.

3. ¿Cuánto tiempo debo mirar a otro lado?

   How long should I look away?

   ¿Cuánto tiempo

   how long

   debo

   should

   mirar

   look

   a otro lado

   away

   More detail

   ¿Cuánto tiempo asks about duration: literally, “how much time?” Cuánto agrees with masculine singular tiempo; compare cuánta with a feminine singular noun, such as ¿Cuánta agua...? (“How much water...?”). Example: ¿Cuánto tiempo necesitas? — “How much time do you need?” debo is the first-person singular present form of deber (“to have to; should”). With an infinitive, deber + infinitive expresses an obligation, recommendation, or expected action, depending on context: Debo salir — “I should leave” or “I have to leave.” The form debo identifies the speaker as the subject; it does not mean “you should.” mirar is an infinitive meaning “to look.” After deber, the infinitive stays unchanged: debo mirar means “I should look.” Example: Debo mirar la pantalla. — “I should look at the screen.” a otro lado is the direction expression “away” in this use, literally “toward another side.” Otro is masculine singular because it agrees with the noun lado; it is not the form of the verb. Example: Mira a otro lado. — “Look away.” Together, ¿Cuánto tiempo asks for the duration, debo mirar expresses the speaker’s obligation or recommendation to look, and a otro lado gives the direction of looking. The complete utterance means: “How long should I look away?”

4. Mira a otro lado durante un minuto.

   Look away for a minute.

   Mira

   Look

   otro

   other / another

   lado

   side

   durante

   for / during

   minuto

   minute

   More detail

   Mira is the affirmative command form of mirar (“to look”). Its exact form addresses one tú listener: mira = “look!” The infinitive mirar is useful in other structures, such as Quiero mirar (“I want to look”). otro means “another” or “other.” Here it is masculine singular because it agrees with the noun lado; the agreement is in otro, not in lado. The related feminine form is otra, as in otra dirección (“another direction”). lado means “side.” In a otro lado, the preposition a plus this noun phrase expresses a direction: “to another side.” With mirar, the complete expression mirar a otro lado is commonly used for “to look away.” durante introduces the time span during which an action takes place. It can be used with a noun phrase for a period, as in durante la pausa (“during the break”). minuto means “minute,” a unit of time. In un minuto, it names the duration here: “a minute.” The noun is masculine singular, as shown by un; its plural is minutos. The singular indefinite article un does not by itself assert a counted quantity; here the whole phrase expresses the time span in the fixed translation. Together, Mira a otro lado gives the command “Look away,” and durante un minuto adds the duration “for a minute.” The whole utterance therefore means “Look away for a minute.”

5. Puedo beber un poco de agua mientras descanso.

   I can drink some water while I rest.

   Puedo

   can

   beber

   drink

   un poco de

   some; a little of

   agua

   water

   mientras

   while

   descanso

   rest

   More detail

   Puedo is the first-person singular present form of poder: “I can” or “I am able to.” It is followed by an infinitive to express ability or permission, depending on context. Here, the fixed translation supports ability: the speaker is able to drink. Beber is the infinitive “to drink.” After a conjugated form of poder, the following verb remains in the infinitive: Puedo beber = “I can drink.” Example: Puedo esperar. = “I can wait.” Un poco de expresses a small amount of something: “some” or “a little of.” The pattern is un poco de + noun, as in un poco de tiempo (“a little time”). It indicates a limited amount without specifying an exact quantity. Agua means “water.” It is a feminine noun referring to a substance. A feminine singular noun beginning with a stressed a can take el rather than la directly before it, as in el agua; this does not make the noun masculine. In the supplied phrase, de agua follows un poco de, so that article issue does not appear. Mientras is a conjunction meaning “while.” It introduces an action occurring during the time of another action. Example: Leo mientras descanso. = “I read while I rest.” Descanso is the first-person singular present form of descansar, “to rest.” The -o ending marks the speaker as the subject in this form: yo descanso = “I rest.” Here it appears in the clause introduced by mientras, so the speaker can drink during the time that they rest. Together, Puedo beber un poco de agua means “I can drink some water,” and mientras descanso adds the simultaneous activity “while I rest.” The complete utterance is therefore: “I can drink some water while I rest.”

6. Eso debería hacer que tus ojos se sientan mejor.

   That should help your eyes feel better.

   Eso

   that

   debería

   should

   hacer que

   help or cause

   ojos

   eyes

   se sientan

   feel

   mejor

   better

   More detail

   Eso means “that” here. It is a demonstrative pronoun referring to something already understood from the situation, but the supplied sentence does not identify a more specific referent. Unlike a demonstrative used before a noun, it stands on its own. debería is the conditional form of deber for a singular subject: deber → debería. In this sentence, debería expresses an expectation or likely result, naturally translated as “should.” For a stronger present obligation, Spanish commonly uses debe, as in Debe descansar (“He/she must rest”). hacer que is a reusable causative construction: “to make/cause [something] to happen.” Here it introduces the result affecting the eyes. The construction is followed by a subjunctive clause because it presents the caused result rather than an independent assertion: hacer que + subjunctive. ojos is the plural noun ojo, “eye.” The possessive tus appears in the full sentence before it and means “your”; ojos is plural, so the noun names more than one eye. Tus ojos is the subject of the following clause. se sientan combines the reflexive pronoun se with sientan, the present subjunctive, third-person plural form of sentir. The base verb is sentir; its present forms show the stem change e → ie in forms such as sienten, and the subjunctive form here is sientan. With ojos as the plural subject, the verb is plural. In sentirse, se makes the meaning “to feel” or “to feel oneself in a state”; here the eyes are described as feeling better. mejor means “better.” In this use it is the comparative form used with a state or condition: the eyes are expected to feel better than before. It can also modify a noun in other contexts, but here it describes the result of how the eyes feel. Together, Eso debería hacer que tus ojos se sientan mejor means “That should help your eyes feel better.” The structure is that + should + cause + your eyes + to feel better; hacer que connects the expected cause with the subjunctive result tus ojos se sientan mejor.

7. Entonces puedo terminar la tarea.

   Then I can finish the task.

   Entonces

   Then

   puedo

   I can

   terminar

   finish

   la tarea

   the task

   More detail

   Entonces means “then” here, linking this statement to what was said before. It can also introduce a conclusion: Entonces, vamos. — “Then, let’s go.” puedo is the first-person singular present form of poder, “to be able to” or “can.” poder is commonly followed by an infinitive: Puedo descansar. — “I can rest.” The form puedo identifies the speaker as the person who has the ability or permission; it does not itself mean that the action definitely happens. terminar is an infinitive meaning “to finish” or “to end.” After a conjugated form of poder, Spanish uses the infinitive: Puedo terminar. — “I can finish.” The infinitive does not show the subject separately here; puedo supplies the first-person singular subject. la tarea means “the task” here. tarea is a feminine singular noun, so it takes the feminine singular article la. Its plural is las tareas: Termino las tareas. — “I finish the tasks.” Together, Entonces sets the connection with the preceding situation, puedo expresses the speaker’s ability, and terminar la tarea names the action and its object. The whole utterance therefore means “Then I can finish the task.”

8. Primero tómate el descanso y luego termina la tarea.

   Take the break first, then finish the task.

   Primero

   first

   tómate

   take

   descanso

   break

   y luego

   and then

   termina

   finish

   tarea

   task

   More detail

   Primero means “first” and places the first action before the next one. It is an adverb, so it does not change for gender or number. Example: Primero lee y luego escribe. — “First read, and then write.” tómate is the affirmative command form for tú of the pronominal expression tomarse, from tomar. Here it means “take,” as in tomarse un descanso (“take a break”). The attached te belongs to the command: toma + te becomes tómate, with an accent added to preserve the pronunciation. This form addresses one person informally; it is not the command form for usted or ustedes. descanso is a masculine singular noun meaning “break” here. The phrase el descanso refers to the break being taken. Descanso can also mean “rest” in other contexts, but “break” is the intended meaning here. Example: Necesito un descanso. — “I need a break.” y luego joins the two actions and means “and then.” Luego marks the later action in the sequence; y connects it to the first action. termina is the affirmative command form for tú of terminar, “to finish.” In this sentence it tells one informal singular listener to finish something. The same written form can also be the third-person singular present form in another context, but here the direct instruction and sentence structure identify it as a command. Example: Termina el ejercicio. — “Finish the exercise.” tarea is a feminine singular noun meaning “task” here. The article la agrees with it: la tarea. It can also mean “homework” when the context gives that meaning, but the fixed translation supports “task” here. The sentence has the reusable pattern Primero [command 1] y luego [command 2]: first do one action, and then do another. Primero tómate el descanso says to take the break first; y luego termina la tarea says to finish the task afterward. Together: “Take the break first, then finish the task.”