Breakdown of Cada episodio es corto, así que no nos dormimos tarde.
Questions & Answers about Cada episodio es corto, así que no nos dormimos tarde.
In Spanish, cada (“each”) is always followed by a singular noun and takes a singular verb:
- Correct: Cada episodio es corto. – “Each episode is short.”
- Incorrect: Cada episodios son cortos.
Even though you logically mean “all the episodes”, grammatically you are talking about them one by one, so Spanish uses singular:
- Cada persona tiene su boleto. – “Each person has their ticket.”
- Cada día es diferente. – “Each day is different.”
So: cada + singular noun + singular verb.
Both can translate to “every episode is short,” but there’s a nuance:
Cada episodio es corto.
- Focuses on each individual episode.
- Slightly more “one by one” in feel.
Todos los episodios son cortos.
- Focuses on the group as a whole.
- Means “all the episodes are short.”
In practice, both are very common and often interchangeable. Your original sentence is perfectly natural as is.
This is the classic ser vs. estar difference.
- Ser is used for inherent or defining characteristics.
- Estar is used for temporary states or conditions.
Here, short is seen as an inherent characteristic of the episode’s design, not a temporary state, so:
- Cada episodio es corto. – Each episode is short (by nature).
Using estar (Cada episodio está corto) would sound strange here and is generally incorrect in this context.
Así que is a conjunction meaning roughly “so” / “so that’s why” / “therefore”. It introduces a result:
- Cada episodio es corto, así que no nos dormimos tarde.
“Each episode is short, so we don’t go to sleep late.”
Differences:
así que
- Very common in conversation.
- Connects cause and result in one sentence.
- Similar to English “so”.
entonces
- Often means “then” or “so” but behaves more like an adverb.
- More common at the start of the result sentence:
- Cada episodio es corto. Entonces no nos dormimos tarde.
por eso
- Literally “for that (reason)” → “that’s why / therefore”.
- Slightly more explicit about causality:
- Cada episodio es corto, por eso no nos dormimos tarde.
All three could fit, but así que is very natural and casual for this kind of sentence.
The comma marks a break between:
- The cause: Cada episodio es corto
- The result: no nos dormimos tarde
Writing:
- Cada episodio es corto, así que no nos dormimos tarde.
is like English:
- “Each episode is short, so we don’t go to sleep late.”
In Spanish, it’s very common and recommended to put a comma before conjunctions that introduce a clear result or explanation, such as así que, pero, aunque, porque, etc., especially when the clauses are longer than just a couple of words.
In Spanish:
- dormir (non‑reflexive) = “to sleep”
- dormirse (reflexive) = “to fall asleep / go to sleep”
In Latin American Spanish, people often use dormirse to talk about the moment of going to sleep:
- Nos dormimos tarde. – We fall asleep late / we go to sleep late.
- No nos dormimos tarde. – We don’t go to sleep late.
If you say no dormimos tarde without nos, it sounds like:
- “We don’t sleep late (i.e., we don’t sleep at late hours / we don’t sleep late into the day)”
and is a bit unusual in this context.
The reflexive “nos” is needed to express the idea of putting ourselves to sleep / falling asleep.
It’s understandable and heard in some places, but more neutral and common options in Latin America are:
- No nos acostamos tarde. – We don’t go to bed late.
- No nos vamos a dormir tarde. – We’re not going to go to sleep late.
- No nos quedamos despiertos hasta tarde. – We don’t stay up late.
Nuance differences:
- acostarse – to go to bed (focus on lying down).
- irse a dormir – to go to sleep (focus on the intention to sleep).
- dormirse – to fall asleep (the moment you actually sleep).
Your sentence with nos dormimos tarde is colloquial and okay, but if you want the safest, most standard phrasing for “go to bed late,” no nos acostamos tarde is a good choice.
Nos is a reflexive pronoun referring back to nosotros (“we”).
- Dormimos – “we sleep” (no reflexive meaning).
- Nos dormimos – literally “we put ourselves to sleep” → “we fall asleep / go to sleep.”
Spanish uses reflexive verbs for many actions we do to ourselves or that affect our own state:
- Nos despertamos temprano. – We wake up early.
- Nos levantamos a las siete. – We get up at seven.
- Nos dormimos tarde. – We go to sleep late.
The nos must match the subject:
- Yo me duermo tarde.
- Tú te duermes tarde.
- Él / ella se duerme tarde.
- Nosotros nos dormimos tarde.
- Ustedes se duermen tarde.
- Ellos se duermen tarde.
In no nos dormimos tarde, the word tarde works like an adverb (“late”), not like a noun (“afternoon”).
tarde (noun) = afternoon / evening
- Por la tarde voy al gimnasio. – In the afternoon I go to the gym.
tarde (adverb) = late
- Llegamos tarde. – We arrive late.
- Nos dormimos tarde. – We go to sleep late.
Adverbs in Spanish do not take articles (el, la, un, etc.), so you just use tarde by itself to say “late”.
Yes. In Spanish, context often allows the present to refer to the future, but if you want it clearly future, you could say:
- Cada episodio es corto, así que no nos vamos a dormir tarde.
– Each episode is short, so we’re not going to go to sleep late.
or more literally:
- Cada episodio es corto, así que no nos dormiremos tarde.
The version with ir + a + infinitive (nos vamos a dormir) is very common and natural in Latin American Spanish, similar to English “going to” future.