Todos se despiertan temprano en esta familia porque hay mucho que hacer.

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Breakdown of Todos se despiertan temprano en esta familia porque hay mucho que hacer.

• la familia: the family
• temprano: early
• que: that
• esta: this
• porque: because
• hacer: to do
• todos: all
• se: themselves
• despertar: to wake up
• hay: there is
• mucho: much

Questions & Answers about Todos se despiertan temprano en esta familia porque hay mucho que hacer.

Why do we use se despiertan instead of just despiertan?

In Spanish, despertarse is a reflexive verb, meaning the action reflects back on the subject. Se despiertan tells us that everyone in the family is performing the action of waking up on themselves. You could technically say despiertan without the reflexive pronoun, but it would sound less natural in most everyday contexts.

What does temprano mean, and are there other ways to say "early"?

Temprano simply means "early." In everyday speech, tempranito is sometimes used to emphasize very early: for example, nos levantamos tempranito ("we get up really early"). Another option is a primera hora ("at first hour"), which can imply being up and ready at the start of the day.

Why do we say hay mucho que hacer instead of hay mucho a hacer or something else?

In Spanish, when expressing "there is a lot to do," we usually use the structure hay + mucho + que + infinitive, which means "there is a lot that needs doing." We don’t use a in this construction. The formula que + infinitive is typical for saying something "that must be done."

What does the word todos refer to here?

Todos means "everyone" or "all of them." In this context, it indicates that every member of the family is included in the statement about waking up early. Note that if you add ellos (they), you might say todos ellos se despiertan, but in everyday usage, todos by itself is enough to mean "all of them."

Is there a difference between porque and por qué?

Yes. Porque (written as one word, without an accent) is a conjunction that means "because" and is used to give a reason, as in porque hay mucho que hacer ("because there’s a lot to do"). Por qué (with an accent, written as two words) means "why" and is used in questions, such as ¿Por qué se despiertan tan temprano? ("Why do they wake up so early?")