Resting a sore leg | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Me duele un poco la pierna.

   My leg hurts a little.

   duele

   hurts

   un poco

   a little

   pierna

   leg

   More detail

   duele comes from doler, “to hurt” or “to ache.” In this sentence, duele is third-person singular present: the hurting body part is singular. Spanish commonly expresses this pattern as me duele + singular body part; me marks the person experiencing the pain, while the body part is the grammatical subject. With a plural body part, use duelen: Me duelen las piernas. — “My legs hurt.” un poco means “a little” and softens the degree of the pain. It is a short quantity expression that can modify a verb or adjective: Estoy un poco cansado. — “I am a little tired.” pierna means “leg.” Its useful basic forms are la pierna — “the leg” and las piernas — “the legs.” The feminine singular article la belongs with this noun; the noun itself is singular here. Together, me duele presents the speaker as the person experiencing pain, un poco gives its degree, and la pierna identifies the singular body part. The complete utterance means “My leg hurts a little.”

2. Siéntate en esta silla un momento.

   Sit on this chair for a moment.

   Siéntate

   sit down

   esta

   this

   silla

   chair

   momento

   moment

   More detail

   Siéntate means “sit down” here. It is the affirmative command for tú of the reflexive verb sentarse (“to sit down”); the reflexive pronoun te is attached to the command, and the accent preserves the required stress. Compare the formal singular siéntese (usted) and the plural siéntense (ustedes). The similar form sienta is not the tú command of sentarse: as an affirmative command of the non-reflexive verb sentar (“to seat [someone]”), it is the tú form, while the usted form is siente. Example: Siéntate aquí. — “Sit down here.” esta means “this” and modifies a single feminine noun. Here it agrees with silla; the sentence presents the chair as the relevant “this” chair, but it does not by itself specify its exact physical distance. Compare este with a masculine singular noun and estas with a feminine plural noun. In current Spanish spelling, this demonstrative adjective is written without an accent. silla means “chair.” It is a feminine singular noun, as shown by esta silla; its plural is sillas. Example: La silla está libre. — “The chair is free.” momento means “moment.” It is a masculine singular noun, with plural momentos. In un momento, the article and noun form a short time expression meaning “a moment,” expressing a brief duration here. Example: Espera un momento. — “Wait a moment.” Together, Siéntate en esta silla gives the instruction “Sit on this chair,” and un momento adds the brief duration. The complete utterance therefore means “Sit on this chair for a moment.”

3. Hoy caminé demasiado.

   I walked too much today.

   Hoy

   today

   caminé

   I walked

   demasiado

   too much

   More detail

   Hoy means “today” and identifies the time of the action. It commonly appears at the beginning or end of a sentence: Hoy trabajo = “I work today.” caminé is the first-person singular preterite of caminar (“to walk”): caminar → caminé. The preterite presents the walking as a completed past action. The accent on the final é marks this first-person singular form; compare caminaba, “I was walking” or “I used to walk,” for an ongoing or habitual past action. demasiado means “too much” here. As an adverb, it describes the amount or degree of the walking and does not change for the speaker’s gender or number. For example, Trabajé demasiado means “I worked too much.” Together, Hoy + caminé + demasiado gives “I walked too much today.” The sentence states that the speaker completed an excessive amount of walking today.

4. Pon la pierna aquí arriba y descansa.

   Put your leg up here and rest.

   Pon

   put

   la pierna

   the leg

   aquí arriba

   up here

   descansa

   rest

   More detail

   Pon is the affirmative command form of poner for tú singular: “put” when speaking to one person informally. The command form is irregular; it is not formed as *pone*. Example: Pon el libro aquí. — “Put the book here.” la pierna means “the leg.” pierna is a feminine singular noun, so it takes the article la. Its plural is las piernas. Example: Me duele la pierna. — “My leg hurts.” aquí arriba combines aquí, “here,” with arriba, “up/above,” and means “up here.” Together they specify the location, rather than merely saying “here.” Example: Deja la bolsa aquí arriba. — “Leave the bag up here.” descansa is the affirmative tú command of descansar: “rest.” It addresses one person informally. The same form can also be a present-tense statement meaning “he/she rests” or “you formal rest,” but in this utterance its command use is clear from the instruction and coordination with Pon. Example: Descansa un poco. — “Rest a little.” Together, Pon la pierna aquí arriba says “Put your leg up here,” and y descansa adds “and rest.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Put your leg up here and rest.”

5. ¿Puedo caminar un poco más tarde?

   Can I walk around a little later?

   Puedo

   I can

   caminar

   walk

   un poco

   a little

   más tarde

   later

   More detail

   Puedo is the first-person singular present form of poder (“to be able to; can”). In this question, the speaker asks whether they can walk later, so ¿Puedo + infinitive? is a reusable way to ask “Can I …?” The form puedo identifies the speaker as “I”; it does not by itself specify whether the intended permission comes from a formal or informal situation. Example: ¿Puedo descansar? — “Can I rest?” caminar is an infinitive meaning “to walk.” After a conjugated form of poder, Spanish uses the infinitive: puedo caminar (“I can walk”). The same verb can be used with other subjects after changing poder, for example puedes caminar (“you can walk”). Example: Quiero caminar. — “I want to walk.” un poco means “a little” or “a bit.” It expresses a small amount or degree and can modify an activity such as caminar; here it limits the extent of the walking rather than naming a specific distance. Example: Camina un poco. — “Walk a little.” más tarde is a time expression meaning “later.” Más contributes the idea of “more,” while tarde means “late”; together, they refer to a time later than now or later than the relevant time. This is a time expression, not a request to walk more. Example: Hablamos más tarde. — “We’ll talk later.” Putting the parts together, ¿Puedo caminar asks “Can I walk?”, un poco limits the walking to a small amount, and más tarde places it at a later time. The complete utterance therefore means “Can I walk around a little later?”

6. Camina solo si te sientes bien.

   Walk only if it feels all right.

   Camina

   Walk

   solo si

   only if

   te sientes

   you feel

   bien

   well; all right

   More detail

   Camina is the affirmative command form for tú singular of caminar (“to walk”). The ending identifies a command addressed to one familiar or informal “you”; it is not the usted form. The infinitive caminar is useful after many verbs, for example: Quiero caminar. — “I want to walk.” solo si sets an exclusive condition: “only if.” It means that feeling well is the required condition for walking; it does not replace or exclude walking itself. A reusable pattern is Verb + solo si + condition: Salgo solo si no llueve. — “I go out only if it does not rain.” te sientes comes from the reflexive verb sentirse, “to feel.” Here it is the present indicative form for tú: te marks the reflexive relation and sientes is the second-person singular form of sentir. The form sientes is not the command; the command is camina. In this sentence, te sientes describes how you feel, without specifying a separate object. Example: ¿Te sientes bien? — “Do you feel well?” bien means “well” or “all right” here. It describes the person’s condition after te sientes; it does not mean “good” as a noun. Compare mal, “badly” or “unwell”: Me siento mal. — “I feel unwell.” Together, Camina gives the instruction, and solo si te sientes bien limits it to the condition that the addressee feels all right. The complete meaning is: “Walk only if you feel all right.”

7. En el sofá me siento mejor que en esta silla.

   The sofa feels better than this chair.

   sofá

   sofa

   me siento

   I feel

   mejor

   better

   silla

   chair

   More detail

   sofá means “sofa.” Its plural is sofás; the accent remains in the plural. In this sentence, el sofá is the place introduced by en: en el sofá means “on the sofa” or “on the couch.” me siento is the first-person singular present form of sentirse, used here with the meaning “I feel.” me is the reflexive pronoun belonging to the implicit subject yo, and siento is the inflected form of sentir; together they express the speaker’s own state. The same form can also mean “I sit” in another context, but the comparison with mejor and the fixed translation support “I feel better” here. Example: Me siento bien. — “I feel well.” mejor means “better” here. It is the comparative form related to bien: bien → mejor. It compares the speaker’s feeling in two locations; it is not an inflection of sofá or silla. Example: Aquí me siento mejor. — “I feel better here.” silla means “chair.” The form is feminine singular, as shown by esta silla (“this chair”); its plural is sillas. Example: La silla es cómoda. — “The chair is comfortable.” The sentence begins with En el sofá, establishing the first location. me siento mejor says that the speaker feels better there, and que en esta silla introduces the comparison location: “than in this chair.” The pattern En A me siento mejor que en B is reusable for comparing how the speaker feels in two places. Thus the whole utterance means that the speaker feels better on the sofa than in this chair, matching the fixed translation “The sofa feels better than this chair.”

8. Entonces siéntate allí y mantén la pierna quieta.

   Then sit there and keep your leg still.

   Entonces

   then

   siéntate

   sit down

   allí

   there

   mantén

   keep; maintain

   pierna

   leg

   quieta

   still; motionless

   More detail

   Entonces means “then” here and links this instruction to what has just been said. It can also introduce a conclusion: Entonces, vamos. — “Then, let’s go.” siéntate is the affirmative command for tú singular: sentarse → siéntate. The final -te refers to the person being told to sit, so the form means “sit down” rather than simply “sit.” The written accent keeps the pronunciation of the command. Example: Siéntate aquí. — “Sit here.” allí is a demonstrative place adverb meaning “there,” referring to a location away from the speaker. Example: Ponlo allí. — “Put it there.” mantén is the affirmative tú command of mantener (“to keep” or “maintain”). This verb has an irregular command form: mantener → mantén; it is not formed by simply attaching the usual ending to the infinitive. Example: Mantén la puerta abierta. — “Keep the door open.” pierna is a feminine singular noun meaning “leg.” Its plural is piernas. In this sentence, it is the direct object of mantén, the body part whose position should be maintained. quieta is the feminine singular form of quieto, meaning “still” or “motionless.” It agrees with pierna: la pierna quieta. The masculine form is quieto, as in el brazo quieto; plural forms are quietos and quietas. Together, siéntate allí gives the first command, “sit there.” Then mantén la pierna quieta gives a second command: keep the leg still. The whole utterance is therefore: “Then sit there and keep your leg still.”