Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Antes de dormir, les contaré un cuento sobre un cangrejo valiente. - Before sleeping, I will tell them a story about a brave crab.

In Spanish, whenever you place a verb right after a preposition (like de), you use the infinitive form. Antes de is a fixed prepositional phrase meaning “before,” so you always say antes de + infinitivo (“before doing something”).

What does les refer to in les contaré?

Les is the indirect object pronoun for ellos/ellas/ustedes, meaning “to them.” So les contaré literally means “I will tell to them.” In English we’d simply say “I’ll tell them.”

Why is the pronoun les placed before contaré rather than attached to it?

With a single, conjugated verb in Spanish (like contaré, the simple future), object pronouns go immediately before the verb. You would only attach a pronoun to an infinitive, gerund, or affirmative command. For example:
• Voy a contarles (“I’m going to tell them”) – pronoun attached to the infinitive contar.
• Cuéntales (“Tell them!”) – command form with attached pronoun.

Why does contaré carry an accent on the é?

All simple-future endings in Spanish have an accent mark to show where the stress falls and to distinguish them from other tenses. The pattern is:
• hablaré, comeré, escribiré (yo)
• hablarás, comerás, escribirás (tú)
…and so on.

Could I say antes de acostarnos instead of antes de dormir?

Yes, but there’s a nuance:
• Antes de dormir = “before sleeping” (focus on the action of sleeping).
• Antes de acostarnos = “before going to bed” (focus on the act of lying down/getting ready for bed).
Both are correct – just pick the one that matches what you mean.

Why is the adjective valiente placed after cangrejo?

In Spanish, most descriptive adjectives follow the noun: un cangrejo valiente (“a brave crab”). Placing valiente before the noun (e.g., un valiente cangrejo) is also possible but gives a more poetic or emphatic feel.

Why is sobre used here instead of de to mean “about”?

Both prepositions can translate as “about,” but:
• Historias de… is very common with fairy tales or story titles (e.g., cuento de hadas).
• Hablar sobre… or cuento sobre… emphasizes the topic in a more general sense.
In everyday speech, you could hear un cuento de un cangrejo valiente, but sobre makes it clear you’re recounting a story whose subject is the brave crab.

What’s the difference between contar and decir when talking about a story?

• Contar is used for narrating or telling stories, jokes, experiences, etc. Think contar un cuento, contar una anécdota.
• Decir is more basic, “to say” or “to tell” something specific (words, information). You decir la verdad, decir una palabra, but you wouldn’t say decir un cuento.