Visito la sucursal nueva por la mañana.

I visit the new branch in the morning.

Breakdown of Visito la sucursal nueva por la mañana.

• yo: I
• la mañana: the morning
• visitar: to visit
• nuevo: new
• por: in
• la sucursal: the branch

Questions & Answers about Visito la sucursal nueva por la mañana.

Why is por la mañana used here instead of en la mañana or simply mañana?

In Spanish, when you talk about an unspecified time during a part of the day (“in the morning,” “in the afternoon,” “at night”), you normally use por + part of day: por la mañana, por la tarde, por la noche.

• En la mañana is less common and can vary by region (more typical in some Latin American countries), but por la mañana is safest.
• Just mañana means “tomorrow,” not “in the morning.”

Can I move por la mañana to the beginning of the sentence? Does word order matter?

Word order in Spanish is fairly flexible. You could say:
Por la mañana visito la sucursal nueva.
Putting the time expression first just shifts emphasis onto when you visit. The meaning stays exactly the same.

Why is Visito in the present tense even though the visit happens in the future?

Spanish uses the simple present (pretérito imperfecto de indicativo) for near-future or scheduled events, especially in timetables or personal plans:

• Mañana visito al médico. (“Tomorrow I visit the doctor.”)
  It’s perfectly normal to say Visito la sucursal nueva por la mañana to mean “I’ll visit the new branch in the morning,” as long as the context makes the timing clear.

Why is there no preposition a after visito? When would you use visitar a?

Visitar is a transitive verb that takes a direct object without a preposition when that object is a thing or place:

• Visito la sucursal
  You only use the “personal a” with visitar when the direct object is a specific person or pet:
• Visito a mi abuela
  Since sucursal is not a person, no a is needed.

What does sucursal mean in English?

Sucursal means branch or branch office (of a bank, store, company, etc.). So la sucursal nueva is “the new branch office.”

Why is the adjective nueva placed after sucursal rather than before it? Is la nueva sucursal also correct?

Both are grammatically correct:

• La nueva sucursal (adjective before noun) treats “new” as an inherent quality—“the (brand-)new branch.”
• La sucursal nueva (adjective after noun) has a slightly more “identifying” or restrictive feel—“the branch that is new (as opposed to the others).”
  In everyday speech, most people wouldn’t stress a huge difference; it’s largely a nuance.

Why is the definite article la used instead of una?

Using la (definite article) signals that you and your listener both know which branch you’re talking about:

• Visito la sucursal nueva = “I visit the new branch (we both know which one).”
  If you said una sucursal nueva, it would mean “I visit a new branch” (we don’t know exactly which one—just any branch that happens to be new).

If this were a regular/habitual action, would I still say por la mañana, or would I change it to por las mañanas?

• Por la mañana (singular) usually refers to a one-off or a specific morning.
• Por las mañanas (plural) expresses a habitual action:
  Visito la sucursal nueva por las mañanas. (“I visit the new branch in the mornings,” i.e. regularly.)