Word
Mi suegro dice que leer una novela cada mes es un buen hábito para mi sobrina.
Meaning
My father-in-law says that reading a novel every month is a good habit for my niece.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Lesson
Breakdown of Mi suegro dice que leer una novela cada mes es un buen hábito para mi sobrina.
ser
to be
mi
my
cada
each, every
que
that
Questions & Answers about Mi suegro dice que leer una novela cada mes es un buen hábito para mi sobrina.
Why is leer in the infinitive here instead of a conjugated verb like lee or lea?
In leer una novela cada mes es un buen hábito, the whole phrase leer una novela cada mes acts as the subject of the verb es.
- Literally: Leer una novela cada mes = Reading a novel every month (as an activity)
- That activity is a good habit.
In Spanish, when a verb is used as a general action or concept (like English reading, smoking, studying), it normally appears in the infinitive (leer, fumar, estudiar).
Compare:
It is not lee because we are not saying “he/she reads a novel every month”, but rather “reading a novel every month is a good habit.”
It is not lea because this is not a command or wish; it’s a general statement, so we don’t use the subjunctive here.
Why is it buen hábito and not bueno hábito?