Mi hermano está trabajando en su tarea ahora.

My brother is working on his homework now.

Breakdown of Mi hermano está trabajando en su tarea ahora.

• mi: my
• estar: to be
• ahora: now
• en: on

Questions & Answers about Mi hermano está trabajando en su tarea ahora.

Why is the verb está trabajando (present progressive) used here instead of something like trabaja?

Spanish uses the present progressive (estar + gerund) to stress that an action is happening at this very moment. Saying está trabajando emphasizes that your brother is in the process of working on his homework right now, whereas trabaja could be more general and might not necessarily mean it's happening at this exact moment.

What does su refer to in su tarea?

Su is a possessive adjective meaning his, her, or their depending on context. In this sentence, since we’re talking about mi hermano, it means his. So su tarea is his homework.

Why do we say mi hermano and not el hermano mío?

In Spanish, the standard and most common way to say my brother is mi hermano. While you can use structures like el hermano mío, they tend to sound more formal, old-fashioned, or emphasize possession in a special context. Mi hermano is the usual everyday expression.

Could I say Mi hermano está trabajando en su tarea ahora mismo instead of just ahora?