Question 1

What does nos damos un abrazo literally translate to, and how would you say it in idiomatic English?

Accepted Answer

Literally, nos damos un abrazo is “we give ourselves a hug.” Idiomatically in English, you’d say “we hug each other.” Spanish often uses dar (“to give”) plus un abrazo (“a hug”) to express the act of hugging.

Question 2

Why is dar used reflexively (as darse) with nos in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

The reflexive pronoun nos indicates a reciprocal action here—each person is giving a hug to the other. So nos damos un abrazo means “we give each other a hug.” Without nos, you’d just be saying “we give a hug” to someone unspecified.

Question 3

Could I replace nos damos un abrazo with nos abrazamos? Are they the same?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Abrazarse is the reflexive form of “to hug,” so nos abrazamos also means “we hug each other.”  
• Nos damos un abrazo is very common and slightly more idiomatic in many Latin American countries.  
• Nos abrazamos is perfectly correct and perhaps a bit more direct.

Question 4

Why is llegamos in the present tense and not subjunctive or past?

Accepted Answer

Because the sentence describes a habitual or typical event: “When we arrive at the station, we hug each other.” With cuando introducing a routine or general statement, Spanish uses the present indicative (llegamos), not the subjunctive.

Question 5

Why do we say llegamos a la estación instead of llegamos en la estación?

Accepted Answer

With the verb llegar (“to arrive”), Spanish uses the preposition a to mark the destination: llegamos a la estación = “we arrive at the station.”  
• En la estación would mean “in the station,” describing location rather than arrival.

Question 6

What role does the indefinite article un play before abrazo?

Accepted Answer

Spanish normally uses an article before singular countable nouns. Un abrazo means “a hug.” Omitting the article (nos damos abrazo) sounds unnatural; the article is needed to specify you’re giving “one hug.”

Question 7

Why isn’t the subject pronoun nosotros included before llegamos?

Accepted Answer

Spanish verbs carry subject information in their endings. Llegamos clearly indicates nosotros (“we”), so the pronoun is redundant and usually dropped unless you want extra emphasis.

Question 8

Can you switch the clauses’ order, for example: Cuando llegamos a la estación, nos damos un abrazo?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. Placing the cuando clause first is perfectly natural in Spanish and simply emphasizes the timing. The meaning remains the same.

Question 9

Why does estación have an accent on the ó, and where is the stress?

Accepted Answer

Estación ends in n and has the stress on the last syllable. According to Spanish accentuation rules, words ending in a vowel, n, or s that are stressed on the last syllable must carry a written accent. So the stress is on -ción.

Nos damos un abrazo cuando llegamos a la estación.

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