Breakdown of Ellos siempre me apoyan a mí cuando dudo de mi propio progreso.
Questions & Answers about Ellos siempre me apoyan a mí cuando dudo de mi propio progreso.
In Spanish, the verb ending usually makes the subject clear, so ellos is not strictly necessary here.
- Apoyan already means “they support”.
- Adding ellos adds emphasis or clarity, a bit like saying “They always support me” in English, stressing they.
Both are correct:
- Ellos siempre me apoyan… – emphasizes they
- Siempre me apoyan… – more neutral, subject understood from context
You can absolutely drop ellos:
- Siempre me apoyan a mí cuando dudo de mi propio progreso.
That sounds very natural. Omitting subject pronouns is very common in Spanish because the verb endings show who the subject is.
Use ellos when:
- You want to contrast: Ellos me apoyan, pero ella no.
- You want extra emphasis on they.
Yes, both refer to “me”, but they have different roles:
- me = unstressed object pronoun, required by the verb
- Ellos me apoyan = They support me.
- a mí = stressed/“strong” pronoun, used for emphasis or contrast
In this sentence:
- Ellos siempre me apoyan = They always support me.
- Ellos siempre me apoyan a mí = They always support me (as opposed to someone else).
So a mí is optional and adds emphasis/contrast; me is obligatory with this verb.
No, that would be incorrect.
- With verbs like apoyar, Spanish normally uses the clitic pronoun (me, te, lo, la, nos, los, las) for direct or indirect objects.
- So you need me: Ellos siempre me apoyan.
If you want emphasis, you add a mí in addition to me, not instead of it:
- ✅ Ellos siempre me apoyan.
- ✅ Ellos siempre me apoyan a mí. (strong emphasis)
- ❌ Ellos siempre apoyan a mí.
Spanish allows some flexibility in word order, especially with adverbs like siempre.
All of these are grammatically correct, but with slightly different feels:
- Ellos siempre me apoyan.
- Very natural, standard word order.
- Ellos me apoyan siempre.
- Also natural; a bit more emphasis on the constancy of the support.
- Siempre me apoyan.
- Normal in conversation; subject understood.
- Siempre me apoyan ellos.
- Unusual in neutral speech; it strongly emphasizes they (maybe in contrast: They always support me, not others).
The given version (Ellos siempre me apoyan) is the most neutral with explicit ellos.
Object pronouns like me, te, lo, la, nos, los, las normally go:
- Before a conjugated verb:
- Ellos me apoyan.
or
- Attached to an infinitive or gerund:
- Pueden apoyarme.
- Están apoyándome.
So:
- ✅ Siempre me apoyan.
- ❌ Siempre apoyan me. (English-like order; incorrect in Spanish)
In Spanish, dudar usually needs a preposition when it means to doubt something:
- dudar de algo = to doubt something
- Dudo de mi propio progreso. = I doubt my own progress.
Using dudar directly with a noun (like English doubt something with no preposition) is not natural in Spanish, so:
- ✅ Dudo de mi propio progreso.
- ❌ Dudo mi propio progreso.
They are used differently:
dudar de + noun/pronoun
- Means to doubt, to question (lack of confidence or trust)
- Dudo de mi progreso. = I doubt my progress.
- Dudo de él. = I doubt him.
dudar en + infinitive
- Means to hesitate to do something
- Dudo en continuar. = I hesitate to continue.
- No dudé en llamarte. = I didn’t hesitate to call you.
In your sentence, we’re doubting something (my progress), so dudar de is correct.
Cuando can take indicative or subjunctive, depending on meaning.
Indicative (dudo): used for habitual actions, general facts, or present-time situations
- Ellos siempre me apoyan cuando dudo…
= They always support me whenever I doubt… (habitual situation)
- Ellos siempre me apoyan cuando dudo…
Subjunctive (dude): used for future, uncertain, or hypothetical events
- Ellos me apoyarán cuando dude de mi propio progreso.
= They will support me when I doubt my own progress (future time not yet realized)
- Ellos me apoyarán cuando dude de mi propio progreso.
Here, it’s describing something that regularly happens, so cuando dudo (indicative) is correct.
Propio means “own”, and adds emphasis that it’s specifically my own progress:
- mi progreso = my progress
- mi propio progreso = my own progress (not someone else’s; stronger, more personal)
Both are correct:
- Dudo de mi progreso. = I doubt my progress.
- Dudo de mi propio progreso. = I doubt my own progress (sounds more emotionally loaded).
The normal order in Spanish is:
- [possessive] + [propio] + [noun]
So:
- mi propio progreso
- tu propio estilo
- su propio coche
You don’t change the order; forms like propio mi progreso are incorrect in standard Spanish.
With dudar, the most natural and standard choice is:
- dudar de algo
You can hear dudar sobre in some contexts, but it’s much less common and can sound off in many dialects.
So, in Latin American Spanish:
- ✅ Dudo de mi propio progreso. (preferred)
- ❌ Dudo sobre mi propio progreso. (generally avoided with dudar)
In Spanish, when you use a strong/stressed pronoun like mí, ti, él, ella, you normally introduce it with a in object position:
- a mí, a ti, a él, a ella, a nosotros, a ellos, etc.
So:
- ✅ Ellos me apoyan a mí.
- ❌ Ellos me apoyan mí.
That a is part of the structure, not optional here.
Meaning-wise, the same people are doing the same action; the difference is emphasis:
Ellos siempre me apoyan.
- Neutral: They always support me.
Ellos siempre me apoyan a mí.
- Emphatic: They always support me (and not someone else / especially me / I really do get their support).
So you only add a mí when you want that extra emphasis or contrast.
Approximate guide (with typical Latin American yeísmo, where y and ll sound the same):
- Ellos → EH-yos (or EH-jos, depending on region)
- siempre → SYEM-pre
- me → meh (short, like “meh”)
- apoyan → a-PO-yan (the y like English “y” or a soft “j/z” depending on country)
- a mí → a MEE
- cuando → KWAN-do
- dudo → DOO-do
- de → deh
- mi propio → mee PRO-pyo (the io in propio is one syllable: PRO-pyo)
- progreso → pro-GRE-so (with single s, like English “so”)
All together (loosely):
EH-yos SYEM-pre meh a-PO-yan a MEE KWAN-do DOO-do de mee PRO-pyo pro-GRE-so.