Él se tuerce la muñeca cuando limpia sin guantes.

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Breakdown of Él se tuerce la muñeca cuando limpia sin guantes.

• cuando: when
• limpiar: to clean
• sin: without

Questions & Answers about Él se tuerce la muñeca cuando limpia sin guantes.

Why is there a se before the verb tuerce?

Because torcerse is a reflexive (pronominal) verb when you twist part of your own body. The se marks that the action falls back on the subject (he twists himself the wrist). In English we just say “he twists his wrist,” but Spanish uses se to show it’s reflexive.

Why is it tuerce and not torce?

Torcer is an O→UE stem-changing verb in the present tense. The “o” in the stem changes to “ue” in all forms except nosotros and vosotros. So for él/ella/usted you get tuerce (tuerz-).

Why do we say la muñeca instead of su muñeca?

When talking about body parts (and possessions closely tied to the subject), Spanish normally uses the definite article (el/la) rather than a possessive adjective. The reflexive pronoun (se) already makes it clear whose wrist it is.

Can I drop él at the beginning?

Yes. Spanish often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already indicates the subject. Él is included only for emphasis or clarity, not out of necessity.

Why is the sentence in the present tense? Doesn’t it describe something that happened?