Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): A veces mi compañera de cuarto tiene que dormir durante el día y guardo silencio por respeto. - Sometimes my roommate has to sleep during the day, and I stay quiet out of respect.

All are grammatically correct. Putting A veces at the beginning emphasizes the idea of “sometimes” a bit more clearly. No comma is needed after A veces here.

What exactly does mi compañera de cuarto mean, and is it the normal way to say “roommate” in Latin America?

Mi compañera de cuarto literally means “my (female) companion of room”, i.e., my female roommate.

In Latin America, common ways to say roommate include:

compañera de cuarto (or compañero de cuarto for a man)
compañera de habitación / de pieza (varies by country)
Informally, roomie is also used in some cities, borrowed from English.

So mi compañera de cuarto is a perfectly natural and common Latin American phrase.

Why is it compañera and not compañero? What if the roommate is male?

Spanish nouns usually show gender:

compañera = female companion/roommate
compañero = male companion/roommate

So:

mi compañera de cuarto = my female roommate
mi compañero de cuarto = my male roommate

If you’re talking about a mixed group:

mis compañeros de cuarto = my roommates (at least one male in the group)
mis compañeras de cuarto = my roommates (all female)

The sentence uses compañera because the roommate is understood to be a woman.

Why is it tiene que dormir and not just duerme?

Tener que + infinitive expresses obligation or necessity:

tiene que dormir = she has to sleep / she needs to sleep
duerme = she sleeps / she is sleeping

So:

Mi compañera de cuarto duerme durante el día.
= She sleeps during the day. (simple fact)
Mi compañera de cuarto tiene que dormir durante el día.
= She has to / needs to sleep during the day. (there is a reason/obligation)

The original sentence wants that sense of needing or having to, not just “she sleeps.”

Could I say debe dormir instead of tiene que dormir? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say debe dormir, but there’s a nuance:

tiene que dormir = has to / needs to (very common, neutral)
debe dormir = must / ought to (can sound a bit stronger, more formal, or like a recommendation, depending on context)

In everyday spoken Latin American Spanish, tener que + infinitive is more frequent and feels more natural for normal obligations:

A veces mi compañera de cuarto tiene que dormir durante el día. ✅ (most natural)
A veces mi compañera de cuarto debe dormir durante el día. ✅ (correct, but might feel a bit more formal or like advice)

Why is it dormir and not dormirse?

Dormir and dormirse are related but not identical:

dormir = to sleep (focus on the state of sleeping)
dormirse = to fall asleep (focus on the moment you go from awake to asleep)

In the sentence:

tiene que dormir durante el día
= she has to sleep during the day (be asleep)

If you said:

tiene que dormirse durante el día
it would sound more like “she has to fall asleep during the day,” focusing on the process of dozing off, which is not what we usually mean here.

Why is it durante el día and not just durante día or en el día?

In Spanish, time expressions like día, noche, tarde often take the definite article:

durante el día = during the day
por la noche = at night
en la tarde / por la tarde = in the afternoon/evening (varies by region)

So:

durante el día ✅ (natural)
durante día ❌ (unnatural in this meaning)
en el día is possible but less usual here; it can sound more specific or contrastive in some contexts.

The most idiomatic way to say “during the day” in this general sense is durante el día.

What does guardo silencio literally mean, and is it a common phrase?

Literally, guardo silencio is “I keep silence”.

Meaning in context: “I stay quiet / I don’t make noise / I remain silent.”

It’s a real and correct expression, somewhat on the neutral or slightly formal side. In everyday speech, people also say:

me quedo en silencio = I remain in silence
me quedo callado(a) = I keep quiet
no hago ruido = I don’t make noise

But guardo silencio fits nicely here and is common in both spoken and written Spanish.

Could I say estoy en silencio instead of guardo silencio?

You could, but it’s not as natural here.

estoy en silencio literally = “I am in silence”
It’s grammatically correct, but not the most idiomatic way to express “I keep quiet” in this context.

More natural options:

guardo silencio ✅
me quedo en silencio ✅
me quedo callado(a) ✅
no hago ruido ✅

So the original guardo silencio is a good, natural choice.

Why is it por respeto and not para respeto?

Por and para both translate as “for” in English, but they’re used differently.

Here, por respeto expresses reason/motivation:

guardo silencio por respeto
= I keep quiet out of respect / because of respect

In this kind of “because of / out of” sense, Spanish uses por, not para.

por respeto, por miedo, por amor, por curiosidad
= out of respect, out of fear, out of love, out of curiosity

Para respeto would be incorrect in this context.

Why is there no yo before guardo silencio? Could I say y yo guardo silencio?

Spanish often omits subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, etc.) because the verb ending already shows who the subject is:

guardo = I keep
guardas = you keep
guarda = he/she keeps

So guardo silencio clearly means “I keep quiet” even without yo.

You can say:

…y yo guardo silencio por respeto.

That’s also correct. Adding yo often adds emphasis or contrast:

A veces mi compañera de cuarto tiene que dormir durante el día y yo guardo silencio por respeto.
(emphasizes I in contrast to others who might not be quiet)

Is the word order …tiene que dormir durante el día y guardo silencio por respeto fixed, or can I move parts around?

Spanish word order is fairly flexible. Some natural variations:

A veces, por respeto, guardo silencio cuando mi compañera de cuarto tiene que dormir durante el día.
A veces, cuando mi compañera de cuarto tiene que dormir durante el día, guardo silencio por respeto.
A veces guardo silencio por respeto cuando mi compañera de cuarto tiene que dormir durante el día.

All of these mean essentially the same thing. The original sentence keeps a simple, direct order:

Who and what happens to her (roommate has to sleep)
What I do in response (I keep quiet out of respect)

Which is clear and natural.

Do I need a comma before y in this sentence?

In Spanish, you usually do not put a comma before y when simply joining two clauses in a normal way:

A veces mi compañera de cuarto tiene que dormir durante el día y guardo silencio por respeto. ✅

You might use a comma before y in more complex sentences (for emphasis, long lists, or special rhythm), but here, no comma is the standard punctuation.