Breakdown of Antes de dormir, escribo cada pensamiento en mi diario y lo cierro.
yo
I
en
in
mi
my
dormir
to sleep
cerrar
to close
cada
each, every
y
and
antes de
before
lo
it
escribir
to write
el pensamiento
the thought
el diario
the journal
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Questions & Answers about Antes de dormir, escribo cada pensamiento en mi diario y lo cierro.
Why is yo omitted before escribo?
In Spanish the subject pronoun is usually dropped when the verb ending makes the subject clear. The ending -o in escribo already tells you it’s first person singular (“I write”), so yo is unnecessary unless you want to add emphasis.
Why are escribo and cierro in the present tense when this is a nightly routine?
Spanish often uses the simple present tense to describe habitual or routine actions. Saying escribo and cierro here is like saying in English, “I write and close it every night.”
Why is it Antes de dormir instead of antes de ir a dormir or antes de acostarme? And why not dormirse?
- After antes de you always use an infinitive.
- dormir (“to sleep”) is the simplest way to say “before sleeping.”
- You could also say antes de ir a dormir (“before going to sleep”) or antes de acostarme (“before lying down”) if you want a slightly different nuance.
- dormirse means “to fall asleep,” so antes de dormirme would emphasize the moment you actually doze off rather than the act of sleeping in general.
Why is it en mi diario and not a mi diario?
In Spanish you write en when you put words inside something like a notebook or journal. You say escribir en un libro/diario, not escribir a un libro.
What does diario mean here? It’s not “daily,” right?
Correct. In this sentence diario is a noun meaning journal or diary, not the adjective daily. If you wanted “daily journal” you might say diario personal or diario diario only colloquially.
What’s the nuance of cada pensamiento versus todos mis pensamientos?
Cada pensamiento focuses on each thought individually, implying you record them one by one. Todos mis pensamientos speaks of all your thoughts collectively. The former highlights the habit of writing down every single thought.
Why is lo cierro used instead of repeating cierro el diario?
Spanish replaces a noun already mentioned with a direct‐object pronoun. Diario is masculine singular, so you use lo to mean “it.” Escribo en mi diario y lo cierro = “I write in my diary and close it.”