Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Antes de dormir, yo le doy un beso a mi sobrina y ella me hace una pregunta sincera. - Before sleeping, I give my niece a kiss and she asks me a sincere question.

to add emphasis: Yo le doy un beso… = I give her a kiss (as opposed to someone else).
for clarity in a longer context with several people.
for style or rhythm.

In this isolated sentence, yo is not strictly necessary. Antes de dormir, le doy un beso a mi sobrina… is perfectly correct and very natural. Including yo just stresses that it’s me doing the action.

Why do we have both le and a mi sobrina? Isn’t that redundant?

This is a very normal pattern in Spanish called clitic doubling, and with indirect objects it’s extremely common:

Le doy un beso a mi sobrina.

Here:

le = indirect object pronoun (to her),
a mi sobrina = the full noun phrase clarifying who “her” is.

Spanish almost always uses the pronoun for indirect objects even when the noun is present:

Le escribo una carta a mi mamá.
Les compré un regalo a mis amigos.

Dropping le is possible in some cases but often sounds incomplete or unnatural in modern spoken Spanish. So le doy un beso a mi sobrina is the standard, natural version.

Why is it le doy un beso and not la doy un beso?

Because mi sobrina is an indirect object here, not a direct object.

Direct object pronouns: lo, la, los, las
Indirect object pronouns: le, les

In le doy un beso a mi sobrina:

what do I give? → un beso (direct object)
to whom do I give it? → a mi sobrina (indirect object) → le

So:

Le doy un beso a mi sobrina. = I give her a kiss.
If you were kissing her directly as the direct object, you’d say something like:
- La beso. = I kiss her.

But with dar (to give) plus a thing (un beso) as the direct object, the person is the indirect object → le.

Why do we say ella me hace una pregunta and not something like ella me pregunta una pregunta?

In Spanish the most natural structure is:

hacer una pregunta a alguien = to ask someone a question

So:

Ella me hace una pregunta sincera. = She asks me a sincere question.

Using preguntar:

Ella me pregunta algo. = She asks me something.
Ella me pregunta si… = She asks me if…

But preguntar una pregunta is redundant and unidiomatic, similar to saying “ask a question question” in English. So you usually choose between:

hacer una pregunta (+ indirect object): Ella me hace una pregunta.
preguntar (+ indirect object + what is asked): Ella me pregunta algo / me pregunta si…

Why do we need me in ella me hace una pregunta? Can’t we just say ella hace una pregunta?

You can say Ella hace una pregunta, but that only means She asks a question in general; it doesn’t say to whom.

The pronoun me tells you the indirect object:

Ella me hace una pregunta. = She asks me a question.
Ella te hace una pregunta. = She asks you a question.
Ella le hace una pregunta. = She asks him/her a question.

Spanish normally marks that “to me / to you / to him/her” with an indirect object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, les), just like le in le doy un beso.

Why is it antes de dormir and not antes de que duermo or antes de que yo duermo?

Antes de + infinitive is the natural way to say before doing something when the subject is the same as the main clause (or obvious from context):

Antes de dormir, le doy un beso… = Before sleeping, I give her a kiss.

If you use antes de que, you need a finite verb and usually the subjunctive:

Antes de que yo duerma, le doy un beso…

Using antes de que duermo is incorrect; it must be antes de que duerma (subjunctive). But in this case, antes de dormir (infinitive) is simpler, more common, and completely correct.

Could we say antes de acostarme instead of antes de dormir? Is there a difference?

Yes, you could say:

Antes de acostarme, le doy un beso a mi sobrina…

Difference in nuance:

dormir = to sleep.
acostarse = to go to bed / to lie down (reflexive).

So:

antes de dormir = before sleeping.
antes de acostarme = before going to bed.

Both are natural. Depending on context, one might feel a bit more precise, but in everyday speech they’re often interchangeable in this kind of sentence.

Why is it un beso and not just beso (without the article)?

In Spanish, singular countable nouns almost always need an article (un/una, el/la) or some determiner.

So:

Le doy un beso a mi sobrina. ✓
Le doy beso a mi sobrina. ✗ (sounds wrong/foreign)

Compare:

Quiero un café. = I want a coffee.
Quiero café. = I want coffee (in general / some coffee).

With beso, you usually say un beso, unos besos, el beso, etc. Here you’re giving one kiss, so un beso is natural.

Why is the adjective sincera placed after pregunta? Could it go before?

The usual, neutral position for adjectives is after the noun:

una pregunta sincera = a sincere question.

You can put some adjectives before the noun, but it often changes the nuance or sounds more literary or emotional. With sincera, pregunta sincera is by far the most natural.

If you said una sincera pregunta, it could sound more marked, formal, or poetic, and in many contexts it would sound odd. Most of the time people say una pregunta sincera.

Why do we use present tense (doy, hace) if this is something that happens every night?

Spanish uses the simple present for:

current actions: Ahora le doy un beso.
general truths: El sol sale por el este.
habits/routines: Siempre le doy un beso antes de dormir.

So:

Yo le doy un beso… y ella me hace una pregunta… can describe a repeated, habitual action (like a bedtime routine) just like English I give / she asks.

If you wanted to talk about a specific night in the past, you’d change tenses:

Anoche, antes de dormir, le di un beso a mi sobrina y ella me hizo una pregunta sincera.

Why do we need the a in a mi sobrina?

Here a marks the indirect object (“to my niece”):

Le doy un beso a mi sobrina. = I give a kiss to my niece.

Spanish uses a:

for indirect objects: Le escribí una carta a mi amiga.
as the personal a with direct objects that are people: Besé a mi sobrina. (I kissed my niece.)

In this sentence:

un beso = direct object of dar
a mi sobrina = indirect object, marked by a.

Can I change the word order and say yo le doy a mi sobrina un beso? Is that still correct?

Yes, it’s correct. Possible orders include:

Yo le doy un beso a mi sobrina. (most common)
Yo le doy a mi sobrina un beso. (also fine)

Spanish allows some flexibility in word order, especially with the position of the indirect object phrase (a mi sobrina) and the direct object (un beso). All these sound natural; the choice can depend on rhythm, emphasis, or what information is considered “new” in the conversation.