Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Mañana compro una computadora portátil en la tienda.

In Spanish, mañana can mean both “tomorrow” and “morning.” Placed before the verb without further context, it almost always means “tomorrow.” If you wanted to say “in the morning,” you’d usually add por la and repeat mañana – for example, mañana por la mañana. Beginning a sentence with a time adverb is common to set the time frame right away.

What tense and person is compro, and why don’t we use the future tense compraré?

Compro is the first-person singular present indicative of comprar. Spanish speakers often use the simple present to talk about near-future plans when a time expression (like mañana) is present. It sounds more immediate and conversational. Using compraré (the future tense) is grammatically correct too, but it can feel more formal or detached.

Why do we say una computadora portátil instead of un portátil computadora?

Spanish typically places descriptive adjectives after the noun: computadora (noun) + portátil (adjective). Also, computadora is feminine in Latin America, so it takes the feminine article una. In Spain you might hear ordenador portátil, but word order (noun + adjective) stays the same.

Why is computadora feminine? Is there a masculine form?

Computadora ends in -a, following the usual pattern for feminine nouns. There’s no masculine counterpart in Latin American Spanish—you wouldn’t say computador. In Spain, the word ordenador (masculine) is used instead, but it’s a different term entirely.

Why do we use en la tienda and not another preposition like a la tienda?

The verb comprar takes en to indicate the place where the action happens: “to buy at/in” a location. So compro en la tienda means “I buy at the store.” If you said a la tienda, you’d be talking about going to the store (voy a la tienda), not the act of buying.

Can we omit the article and say compro computadora portátil en tienda?

No. Spanish generally requires an article before singular, countable nouns. You need una computadora. Likewise, place names or common nouns of location normally take an article: en la tienda, not en tienda. Omitting those articles sounds ungrammatical.

Is it possible to change the word order—like En la tienda, compro una computadora portátil mañana—and still be correct?

Yes. Spanish word order is fairly flexible for emphasis or style. You can front en la tienda or mañana to highlight place or time, and the sentence remains grammatically correct. The basic meaning doesn’t change, though you might subtly shift what you emphasize.

How would you say “tomorrow morning I buy a laptop in the store”?

You’d say Mañana por la mañana compro una computadora portátil en la tienda. The first mañana means “tomorrow,” and por la mañana specifies “in the morning.”