Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): En la sala de espera reviso mi pasaporte y escribo una carta a mi amigo chileno. - In the waiting room I check my passport and write a letter to my Chilean friend.

– In Spanish, most nouns need an article or determiner.
– En la sala de espera uses the definite article la because you’re referring to a specific waiting room (the one you’re in).
– If you meant “in any waiting room,” you could say en una sala de espera.
– Saying en sala de espera without an article is ungrammatical.

Why is sala de espera literally “room of waiting” and not “waiting room” like in English?

– Spanish often uses de + noun to express purpose or function (here, “room of waiting”).
– English compounds the words (“waiting room”), but Spanish prefers the noun + de + noun structure.

Why is the simple present reviso used instead of the present progressive estoy revisando?

– Spanish simple present can describe actions happening right now, especially in spoken narration.
– Reviso mi pasaporte is concise and common in everyday speech.
– Estoy revisando mi pasaporte adds emphasis to the ongoing nature of the action, but both are correct.

Does reviso mi pasaporte mean “I review my passport”? Is there a better translation?

– Revisar often means “to check” or “to inspect,” not an in-depth review.
– So reviso mi pasaporte is best translated as “I check my passport.”
– If you wanted “I read through” in detail, you might choose repaso or leo detenidamente, but reviso covers a quick check.

Why isn’t there a preposition a before mi pasaporte?

– The preposition a before objects only appears with:

The personal a (direct objects that are people or personified).
Indirect objects.
– Pasaporte is an inanimate direct object, so no a is needed.

Why is a used before mi amigo chileno in escribo una carta a mi amigo chileno?

– Escribir una carta a alguien takes an indirect object, so you must use a to mark the person receiving the letter.
– This a is not the “personal a” but the standard preposition for indirect objects.

Why isn’t the indirect object pronoun le included (e.g., le escribo una carta)?

– In Spanish you often use a redundant pronoun for clarity or emphasis, so le escribo una carta is perfectly valid.
– In casual speech you can drop le if the indirect object is clearly stated right after the verb.
– Both escribo una carta a mi amigo chileno and le escribo una carta a mi amigo chileno are correct; adding le is more typical in many regions.

Why is the adjective chileno placed after amigo? Could it go before?

– Most Spanish adjectives, especially nationalities, follow the noun: amigo chileno.
– Placing chileno before (chileno amigo) sounds poetic or changes emphasis.
– To say “my Chilean friend” normally use mi amigo chileno.

If the friend were female, how would the sentence change?

– You would change both noun and adjective to feminine:
– escribo una carta a mi amiga chilena.
– The rest of the sentence stays the same.