Ella se levanta a las cinco de la mañana para entrenar en el gimnasio.

She gets up at five in the morning to train at the gym.

Breakdown of Ella se levanta a las cinco de la mañana para entrenar en el gimnasio.

• la mañana: the morning
• ella: she
• para: to
• levantarse: to get up
• las cinco: the five
• entrenar: to train
• en: at
• el gimnasio: the gym

Questions & Answers about Ella se levanta a las cinco de la mañana para entrenar en el gimnasio.

Why is “se” used in “se levanta”?

se is a reflexive pronoun that indicates the subject is performing the action on herself. In English, this concept is often expressed using “myself,” “yourself,” or “herself,” but in Spanish, a dedicated reflexive pronoun is used alongside the verb.

Why do we say “a las cinco de la mañana” instead of just “las cinco de la mañana”?

In Spanish, a is used before a specific time to indicate “at.” So a las cinco de la mañana translates more directly to “at five in the morning.” Simply saying las cinco de la mañana would just be stating the time without the sense of “at.”

Why do we use “de la mañana” here instead of “en la mañana”?

In Spanish, de la mañana / de la tarde / de la noche is the standard way to specify the part of the day when giving an exact time. You might say en la mañana to mean a more general timeframe (e.g., "in the morning"), but when specifying a particular hour, de is the correct choice.

Why is there no article before “gimnasio” in “entrenar en el gimnasio”?

In many contexts, Spanish doesn’t require an article when the place is a general or familiar location, especially if it’s somewhere the speaker frequently goes (like “escuela,” “casa,” “iglesia,” “trabajo,” etc.). However, you can say en el gimnasio and it would still be correct if you want to be specific about which gym or emphasize the location.

What does “para entrenar” mean and why use “para” instead of “por”?

para entrenar expresses the purpose of getting up so early: it tells you why she does it (i.e., to train at the gym). para is used to indicate a goal or intended outcome (“in order to…”). por is typically used for reasons such as “because of” or “due to,” but not for the purpose of an action.