Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): En mi casa cada ducha tiene un grifo que controla la temperatura. - In my house each shower has a faucet that controls the temperature.

In Latin American Spanish, grifo refers to the fixture you turn on or off to let water flow—what in English you’d call a faucet or tap. In some countries you might also hear llave or canilla, but grifo is perfectly understood.

Why does the sentence say cada ducha instead of todas las duchas?

Cada means “each,” so cada ducha emphasizes that every individual shower has its own faucet. If you said todas las duchas tienen un grifo… you’d be saying “all the showers have a faucet,” which is grammarically fine but less focused on the one-by-one idea.

Why is the verb tiene in the singular when the sentence talks about multiple showers?

The subject of the verb is cada ducha, which is grammatically singular (“each shower”). In Spanish you match the verb to cada ducha (singular), not to the idea of multiple showers. If you had used todas las duchas, you would say tienen.

What role does the word que play in …un grifo que controla la temperatura?

Here que is a relative pronoun introducing a clause that describes or qualifies un grifo. In English you’d translate it as “that,” so the phrase means “a faucet that controls the temperature.”

Why use controla instead of synonyms like regula or ajusta?

All three verbs can work—controlar, regular, ajustar—and in everyday Latin American usage controlar la temperatura is very common. Using regular or ajustar would slightly shift the nuance (“to regulate” or “to adjust” the temperature), but the overall meaning remains the same.

Could I start the sentence with Hay instead of tiene?

Yes, you could say:
En mi casa hay un grifo en cada ducha que controla la temperatura.
That focuses on existence (“there is a faucet in each shower”) rather than possession (“each shower has a faucet”). Both are correct; it’s just a matter of emphasis.

Why does the sentence use temperatura and not calor?

Temperatura refers to the exact degree of hot or cold (the measurement). Calor means the sensation or presence of heat. Since a faucet typically lets you pick the precise hot‐vs‐cold mix, you speak of controlling the temperature, not just the heat.

Is there an article before ducha? Why not la ducha?

When you use cada, you drop any definite or indefinite article before the noun. You say cada ducha, never cada la ducha or cada una de las duchas (unless you want a more wordy form: cada una de las duchas also works to mean “each one of the showers”).