Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Dejo mi bicicleta frente a la farmacia cada día. - I leave my bicycle in front of the pharmacy every day.

Dejo is the first-person singular (yo) form of the verb dejar in the simple present tense. In this sentence, dejar means “to leave behind” or “to leave (an object) somewhere.” When you talk about leaving something in a place (like a bike in front of a building), dejar is the go-to verb. It does not mean “to allow” here.

Why do we say mi bicicleta instead of la bicicleta or la mi bicicleta?

When you use a possessive adjective (mi, tu, su, etc.), you drop the definite article. So it’s mi bicicleta (“my bike”), never la mi bicicleta. You could say la bicicleta if the bike has already been introduced and it’s clear which one you mean, but you don’t combine la + mi.

Once I have said mi bicicleta, can I replace it with a pronoun later, like la?

Yes. Spanish uses direct-object pronouns to avoid repetition. After mentioning mi bicicleta, a follow-up sentence could say La dejo frente a la farmacia. Here la stands in for mi bicicleta.

Why do we use frente a la farmacia and not en frente de la farmacia?

The standard prepositional phrases for “in front of” are frente a and delante de. So you say frente a la farmacia (facing the pharmacy) or delante de la farmacia (on the side of the pharmacy closest to you). The form en frente de (two words) is generally non-standard; if you see enfrente de (one word) it’s used by some speakers, but frente a and delante de are far more common.

Why is it a la farmacia and not al farmacia?

In Spanish, a + el contracts to al, but a + la does not contract—because la is feminine. So you keep both words: a la farmacia.

Could I say todos los días instead of cada día, and are there any differences?

Yes. Todos los días and cada día both mean “every day” and are generally interchangeable. Cada día literally highlights “each day,” while todos los días can feel a bit more emphatic, but in everyday speech they function the same.

What about starting the sentence with Cada día—is that OK?

Absolutely. Spanish word order is flexible. Placing Cada día at the beginning emphasises the frequency:
Cada día dejo mi bicicleta frente a la farmacia.
It means exactly the same as when cada día goes at the end.

Why is there an accent on the í in día?

The accent mark in día serves two purposes:
1) It breaks what would be a diphthong ia, forcing two distinct syllables (dí-a).
2) It clarifies stress. Without the accent, spelling rules might still place stress on the penultimate syllable, but readers could misinterpret pronunciation. The accent guarantees you say /ˈdi.a/, not /dja/.

Why is the simple present tense (dejo) used to describe a habitual action, rather than something like estoy dejando?

In Spanish, the simple present is routinely used for repeated or habitual actions: “I leave my bike every day.” The present progressive (estoy dejando) would imply you’re in the act of leaving it right this moment, not that it’s a daily routine.

Can I use the shorter word bici instead of bicicleta, and is that common in Latin America?

Yes. Bici is an informal, widely used abbreviation of bicicleta in spoken Spanish across Latin America. Dejo mi bici frente a la farmacia cada día is completely natural in casual conversation.

Could I use the adverb diariamente instead of cada día, and is there a formality difference?

Yes. Diariamente means “daily” and is more formal or typical of written language. In everyday speech, cada día or todos los días is more common and sounds more natural.

Why is cada used with a singular noun (día) and not a plural?

After cada, the noun is always singular in Spanish, because cada means “each.” You say cada día, cada mes, cada persona, never cada días, cada meses, etc.