Tengo que levantarme temprano para correr.

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Breakdown of Tengo que levantarme temprano para correr.

• temprano: early
• correr: to run
• para: for
• levantarse: to get up
• tener que: to have to

Questions & Answers about Tengo que levantarme temprano para correr.

Why is it tengo que instead of just tengo?

In Spanish, tengo que expresses an obligation or necessity—meaning “I have to.” Simply saying tengo would mean “I have,” which by itself refers to possession rather than needing to do something.

Why do we say levantarme instead of levantar?

When we talk about getting ourselves up, we use the reflexive form levantarse. In this sentence, it becomes levantarme (reflexive, first-person singular). Levantar without the reflexive pronoun would mean “to lift something/ someone,” not “to get oneself up.”

How come it’s temprano and not pronto?

Both words can relate to being early in time, but temprano is specifically used to talk about early in the morning or early in a schedule. Pronto can mean “soon” or “quickly” and isn’t necessarily tied to early morning.

Why do we say para here instead of using por?

Para indicates a purpose or goal, which is “in order to run.” If we said por, it would have a sense of “because of” or “by means of,” which doesn’t convey the intended idea of the purpose of getting up early.

Why is it just correr at the end and not conjugated again?

After para, we typically use the infinitive to express the purpose or goal of an action. The sentence shows the action you intend to do after getting up early, so correr remains in its infinitive form.