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Questions & Answers about Cuando el perro ladra, mi oreja derecha tiembla un poco.
Why is cuando followed by the indicative ladra and not the subjunctive ladre?
Because this sentence describes a habitual or real action (“when the dog barks, this always happens”). In Spanish, temporal conjunctions like cuando, después de que, hasta que take the indicative if the event is habitual, ongoing or already happened. You would only switch to the subjunctive after cuando if you’re referring to a future or hypothetical action (e.g. “Cuando ladre el perro mañana, te avisaré”).
Why does the sentence use el perro rather than just perro, un perro or mi perro?
In Spanish, we almost always put a definite article before a specific animal: if it’s “the dog” you say el perro.
- un perro would mean “a dog” (any dog).
- mi perro would mean “my dog” (if you want to emphasize it’s your own).
Here el perro suggests a particular dog that both speaker and listener know about.
What does temblar mean, and why is it conjugated as tiembla here?
Temblar means “to tremble,” “to shake,” or “to quiver.” It’s a stem-changing verb in the present indicative: the “e” in the stem changes to “ie” in all persons except nosotros/vosotros. So for third person singular you get tiembla (yo tiemblo, tú tiemblas, él/ella tiembla, nosotros temblamos…).
Why does the sentence say mi oreja derecha tiembla un poco instead of using a reflexive or impersonal structure like se me tiembla la oreja derecha un poco?
Spanish offers two common ways to talk about involuntary body reactions:
1) An active construction with a possessive adjective as the subject – e.g. mi oreja derecha tiembla.
2) An indirect-object construction with a definite article – e.g. se me tiembla la oreja derecha (literally “the ear trembles to me”).
Both are correct. The first focuses on the ear itself; the second emphasizes the person experiencing it.
Why is there no article before mi oreja derecha? Would “la mi oreja derecha” ever be correct?
When you use a possessive adjective (mi, tu, su, nuestro, etc.) in Spanish, you normally omit the definite article. Thus you say mi oreja not la mi oreja. The form la mi oreja is archaic or poetic and isn’t used in everyday speech.
Why is un poco placed at the end of the sentence, and could I move it elsewhere?
In Spanish, short adverbial phrases of quantity or degree (like un poco, mucho, bien) typically follow the verb they modify: tiembla un poco. You could also say tiembla bastante or tiembla mucho, but putting un poco before the verb (un poco tiembla) would sound odd. Keeping it after the verb is the natural word order.
Can I rephrase the sentence using al + infinitive instead of cuando + conjugated verb?
Yes. Spanish often uses al + infinitive to express a cause or simultaneous action:
“Al ladrar el perro, mi oreja derecha tiembla un poco.”
This construction emphasizes that the ear trembling happens at the very moment of the dog’s barking.
Can I invert the main clause and the subordinate clause? Will that change the meaning?
Absolutely. You can say:
“Mi oreja derecha tiembla un poco cuando el perro ladra.”
The meaning stays the same. Changing the order only shifts the emphasis slightly—starting with the ear trembling highlights the effect before stating its cause.
What’s the difference between oreja and oído, and why is oreja used here?
- Oreja refers to the external, visible part of the ear (the flap and outer canal).
- Oído can mean the inner ear (cochlea) or the sense of hearing itself.
Since you’re talking about the physical part that visibly trembles, oreja is the correct choice.
