Breakdown of Escribo en mi diario antes de beber café cada mañana.
yo
I
en
in
mi
my
la mañana
the morning
cada
each, every
beber
to drink
el café
the coffee
antes de
before
escribir
to write
el diario
the journal
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Spanish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Escribo en mi diario antes de beber café cada mañana.
Why do we use antes de + infinitive instead of a full clause?
In Spanish, when the subject of both actions is the same, you follow antes de with an infinitive (here beber café). If the two actions have different subjects, you must add que and use the subjunctive—for example, antes de que ella llegue (“before she arrives”).
Why is the simple present escribo used for a habitual action rather than the present progressive?
Spanish normally uses the simple present tense for routines and habits. Escribo en mi diario conveys “I write in my diary” as a daily practice. The present progressive (estoy escribiendo) highlights an action in progress right now, not a habitual one.
Why do we need the preposition en before mi diario?
When you write inside or into something in Spanish, you use en. So you say escribo en mi diario (“I write in my diary”). Omitting en would be ungrammatical or change the meaning to “I write my diary” as if it were a direct object with no location sense.
Is beber café correct? I often hear tomar café instead.
Both are grammatically correct, but tomar café is more idiomatic throughout Latin America. Beber focuses strictly on the drinking act, whereas tomar is the everyday verb for consuming drinks (and sometimes food).
What’s the difference between cada mañana and todas las mañanas?
They both mean “every morning.” Cada mañana is a bit more concise and emphasizes each individual morning. Todas las mañanas is slightly more emphatic or colloquial. In this context, they’re interchangeable.
Could I rearrange the sentence to start with Cada mañana?
Yes. Spanish word order is flexible. For example, Cada mañana, antes de tomar café, escribo en mi diario is perfectly natural. You can move time expressions or subordinate phrases to the front for emphasis or style.