Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Mi brújula indica que vamos hacia el sur, pero yo prefiero el norte. - My compass shows we are going south, but I prefer the north.

In Spanish, words stressed on the third-to-last syllable (called esdrújulas) always carry a written accent. brú-ju-la has three syllables with the stress on “bru,” so the accent mark on ú shows you where to stress the word.

What does hacia mean here, and how is it different from a or hasta?

hacia means “towards” and indicates direction without necessarily implying arrival.

a (“to”) is more definitive, often implying you’ll reach that place.
hasta (“until” / “up to”) stresses reaching a point or limit.
So vamos hacia el sur focuses on moving in that southern direction, not on actually arriving there.

Why is there a definite article before sur and norte?

In Spanish, cardinal directions (north, south, east, west) act like nouns and normally take the definite article. That’s why you say el sur, el norte, el este, el oeste, etc. Without the article, it sounds ungrammatical or awkward.

Could I omit the article and say prefiero norte?

No. Omitting el would sound incorrect. Cardinal directions used as nouns require the article, so you must say prefiero el norte to mean “I prefer the north.”

Why is the pronoun yo used in yo prefiero el norte but not in vamos hacia el sur?

Spanish verb endings usually show the subject, so subject pronouns are often dropped unless you want emphasis or contrast.

In vamos, the “-amos” ending already tells you it’s nosotros (“we”).
In prefiero, adding yo highlights who prefers north and contrasts with the compass’s direction.

Why do we use the indicative form vamos after indica que, and not the subjunctive vayamos?

Because indicar here means “to show” or “to indicate” a factual statement, it’s followed by the indicative mood: indica que vamos. The subjunctive vayamos would be used if the first clause expressed doubt, desire, or command, which it doesn’t.

Could I use sino instead of pero in this sentence?

No. sino is used to correct a negative statement (e.g., “No vamos al sur, sino al norte”). Here the first clause isn’t negative, so you use pero (“but”) to contrast two positive statements.

What kind of stem change does preferir have, and where is the stress in prefiero?

preferir is an e→ie stem-changing verb in the present tense: the first e becomes ie, giving prefiero. The stress falls on the syllable fie (pre-FIE-ro). Since it ends in a vowel and the stress is on the penultimate syllable, no written accent is needed.

Why is indica in the third person singular form?

Because its subject is mi brújula (my compass), which is singular. Therefore, you conjugate indicar as la brújula indica (“the compass indicates”).