Mi abuelo explica la historia de su vida con paciencia.

My grandfather explains the story of his life patiently.

Breakdown of Mi abuelo explica la historia de su vida con paciencia.

• mi: my
• de: of
• su: his
• explicar: to explain
• la historia: the story
• el abuelo: the grandfather
• la vida: the life
• con paciencia: patiently

Questions & Answers about Mi abuelo explica la historia de su vida con paciencia.

Why is it explica and not explicas or explico?

Because the verb explicar (to explain) is conjugated to match the subject mi abuelo (my grandfather), which is third person singular (he).

Present tense of explicar (regular -ar verb):

• yo explico – I explain
• tú explicas – you explain (informal)
• él / ella / usted explica – he / she / you (formal) explain
• nosotros explicamos – we explain
• ellos / ellas / ustedes explican – they / you all explain

Since mi abuelo = él (he), you must use explica.

Does explica mean “is explaining” or “explains”? How does the Spanish present tense work here?

In Spanish, the simple present explica can cover both:

• He explains (habitual, general truth)
• He is explaining (right now, in context)

So Mi abuelo explica la historia de su vida con paciencia could mean:

• He usually explains the story of his life patiently, or
• He is currently explaining it patiently, depending on context.

If you really want to emphasize “right now”, you can use the progressive:

• Mi abuelo está explicando la historia de su vida con paciencia.

Why do we say la historia and not just historia, without the article?

Spanish uses definite articles (el, la, los, las) more often than English uses the.

Here, la historia means the story, referring to a specific story (the story of his life). In Spanish, with a specific, known noun like this, you almost always include the article:

• la historia – the story
• mi abuelo cuenta la historia – my grandfather tells the story

Leaving out the article (mi abuelo explica historia de su vida) is incorrect in standard Spanish.

What’s the difference between la historia de su vida and just su vida?

• su vida = his life
• la historia de su vida = the story of his life

So:

• Mi abuelo explica su vida literally sounds like “My grandfather explains his life” – grammatically possible but unusual.
• Mi abuelo explica la historia de su vida is natural and emphasizes that he is telling it as a story, perhaps in order, with details.

We often talk about someone’s life as a narrative: the story of his life → la historia de su vida.

What exactly can su mean here? Is it always “his”?

Su is context-dependent. It can mean:

• his
• her
• your (formal, singular)
• their
• your (plural, in Latin America: ustedes)

In this sentence, su refers back to mi abuelo, so we interpret it as his.

Without context:

• la historia de su vida could be “the story of his/her/your/their life.”

To avoid ambiguity, Spanish sometimes uses de él / de ella:

• la historia de la vida de él – the story of his life (very explicit, more emphatic than usual)

Why is it de su vida and not sobre su vida or acerca de su vida?

All three are possible but have slightly different nuances:

• la historia de su vida – the story of his life

  • This is the most natural here. It implies his life itself, understood as a story.

• la historia sobre su vida – the story about his life

  • More like “a story about his life,” could be a biography, documentary, etc.

• la historia acerca de su vida – the story about his life

  • Similar to sobre, a bit more formal or bookish.

In this sentence, we’re talking about a person telling their own life story, so de su vida is the most idiomatic choice.

Why is there no a before la historia? I thought Spanish sometimes uses a before objects.

Spanish uses the personal a before direct objects that are people (or personified animals), not before things.

Examples:

• Veo a mi abuelo. – I see my grandfather.
• Escucho a mi madre. – I listen to my mother.

But la historia is a thing, not a person, so we do not use a:

• Mi abuelo explica la historia… ✅
  (not explica a la historia ❌)

Why is it con paciencia and not an adverb like pacientemente?

Both are possible, but con paciencia is more common and natural in everyday speech:

• con paciencia – literally “with patience”; very frequent, neutral register.
• pacientemente – “patiently”; grammatical, but sounds a bit more formal or literary in many contexts.

So:

• Mi abuelo explica la historia de su vida con paciencia. (very idiomatic)
• Mi abuelo explica la historia de su vida pacientemente. (correct, but feels slightly more formal/stylistic)

If I want to say “My grandfather explains the story of his life to me,” where would me go?

You add the indirect object pronoun me (to me). Common, correct placements:

• Mi abuelo me explica la historia de su vida con paciencia.
• Mi abuelo me explica con paciencia la historia de su vida.

The pronoun me goes before the conjugated verb (explica).

You wouldn’t say:

• ❌ Mi abuelo explica me la historia… – incorrect word order.

Can I drop mi abuelo and just say Explica la historia de su vida con paciencia?

Grammatically yes, but it changes the feel:

• Explica la historia de su vida con paciencia.
  = He/She/You (formal) explains the story of his/her/your life with patience.

In Spanish, we often omit subject pronouns when the subject is clear from context. But if you remove mi abuelo, you also remove the explicit reference to “my grandfather,” so a listener would need previous context to know who “explains” refers to.

If you want to clearly introduce the topic, it’s better to keep Mi abuelo.

How would the sentence change if I’m talking about my grandmother, or more than one grandparent?

Change abuelo and adjust the verb if needed:

• Mi abuela explica la historia de su vida con paciencia.
  My grandmother explains…

• Mis abuelos explican la historia de su vida con paciencia.
  My grandparents explain the story of their life / lives with patience.
  (Verb changes to explican, third person plural.)

• Mis abuelos explican la historia de sus vidas con paciencia.
  Emphasizes that each has their own life story (plural vidas and sus).

Is the word order flexible? Can I move con paciencia to another position?

Yes, Spanish allows some flexibility in word order for emphasis or style. All of these are possible:

• Mi abuelo explica la historia de su vida con paciencia.
• Mi abuelo explica con paciencia la historia de su vida.
• Con paciencia, mi abuelo explica la historia de su vida.

They mean essentially the same thing; differences are subtle and stylistic. The original order is very natural.

How do I pronounce historia and explica? Is the h in historia silent?

Yes, h is always silent in Spanish (except in the digraph ch, which is a different sound). So:

• historia → roughly ee-STO-rya

  • h: silent
  • stress on -sto-: his-TO-ria

• explica → roughly eks-PLEE-ka (Latin American Spanish)

  • ex-: like eks-
  • c before a = k sound: -ka
  • stress on -pli-: ex-PLI-ca

So the sentence sounds like:

• mee ah-BWE-lo eks-PLI-ka la is-TO-rya de su VEE-da kon pa-SEE-en-sya (approximate English-style transcription).