Últimamente intento priorizar el estudio de español sobre otras actividades.

Lately I try to prioritize studying Spanish over other activities.

Breakdown of Últimamente intento priorizar el estudio de español sobre otras actividades.

• yo: I
• de: of
• español: Spanish
• otro: other
• intentar: to try
• el estudio: the study
• sobre: over
• últimamente: lately
• priorizar: to prioritize
• la actividad: the activity

Questions & Answers about Últimamente intento priorizar el estudio de español sobre otras actividades.

What’s the function of Últimamente in this sentence, and where can it go?

Últimamente means “lately / recently / these days” and works as a time adverb.

In this sentence it describes when the action is happening, so it modifies the whole sentence:

• Últimamente intento priorizar el estudio de español sobre otras actividades.
• Intento priorizar el estudio de español sobre otras actividades últimamente.

Both are correct. Putting Últimamente at the beginning is very common and sounds natural because it sets the time frame for what follows.

Why is it intento priorizar and not something like estoy intentando priorizar?

Spanish often uses the simple present to talk about ongoing or habitual actions, where English might use both:

• I try to prioritize...
• I’ve been trying to prioritize...

Intento priorizar can mean:

• “I try to prioritize…” (a general habit)
• “I’ve (been) trying to prioritize…” (recent ongoing behavior, especially with Últimamente)

Estoy intentando priorizar is also correct, but it emphasizes the process right now, more like “I am trying to prioritize… at this moment / these days.” In this sentence, the simple present with Últimamente already implies an ongoing, recent habit.

Why is priorizar in the infinitive form here?

In Spanish, after verbs like intentar (to try), the next verb usually appears in the infinitive:

• intento priorizar – I try to prioritize
• intento estudiar – I try to study
• quiero aprender – I want to learn
• puedo hablar – I can speak

So intento priorizar literally mirrors English “I try to prioritize”, where English uses to + verb and Spanish uses the infinitive.

Could you also say trato de priorizar instead of intento priorizar?

Yes. Both are correct and common, but there are small nuances:

• Intento priorizar… – sounds a bit more direct and neutral, like “I try / I attempt to prioritize…”
• Trato de priorizar… – often feels slightly more effort-focused, like “I make an effort to prioritize…”

Grammatically:

• intentar + infinitive
  
  • intento priorizar
• tratar de + infinitive
  
  • trato de priorizar

In everyday speech, they are often interchangeable in this context.

Why is it el estudio de español and not just estudio español?

There’s a difference in structure and meaning:

• Estudio español.

  • Verb estudiar
    • direct object español
  • Means “I study Spanish.” (a complete sentence on its own)

• el estudio de español

  • Noun estudio = “the study”
  • de español = “of Spanish”
  • Together: “the study of Spanish” (a noun phrase)

In the original sentence, priorizar needs a thing to prioritize:

• priorizar el estudio de español = “to prioritize the study of Spanish”

If you used a verb instead:

• priorizar estudiar español – grammatically possible, but sounds more awkward and less natural than priorizar el estudio de español in this context.

Why is there no article before español in el estudio de español?

In Spanish, after many abstract nouns like el estudio, el aprendizaje, el conocimiento, it’s very common to use de + language (without article):

• el estudio de español
• el estudio de inglés
• el aprendizaje de francés

Using el estudio del español is not wrong, but it sounds more formal or specific, like “the study of the Spanish language (in particular).”

In everyday speech, el estudio de español is more natural and general: “the study of Spanish.”

Why is español not capitalized here?

In Spanish:

• Languages and nationalities are written in lowercase:
  • español, inglés, francés, mexicano, argentino, etc.

In English they are capitalized (Spanish, English, etc.), but Spanish spelling rules are different.

So el estudio de español is correctly written with lowercase español.

Why is sobre used, and does it literally mean “on top of” here?

Sobre has several meanings, including “on, on top of, about, over.”

In this sentence:

• priorizar … sobre otras actividades
  means
• “to prioritize … over other activities.”

This “over” is figurative (higher importance), not physical.

Other ways to express this idea:

• priorizar el estudio de español antes que otras actividades
• dar prioridad al estudio de español por encima de otras actividades

But sobre is short, natural, and widely used in this context.

Why is it otras actividades with otras (feminine plural)?

Actividades is the plural of actividad, which is a feminine noun:

• la actividad – the activity
• las actividades – the activities

Adjectives (including otro/otra = “other/another”) must agree in gender and number with the noun:

• otra actividad – another/other activity (feminine singular)
• otras actividades – other activities (feminine plural)

So otras actividades is correct agreement: feminine plural adjective + feminine plural noun.

Could the sentence use he intentado instead of intento? What would change?

You could say:

• Últimamente he intentado priorizar el estudio de español sobre otras actividades.

This uses the present perfect (he intentado) instead of the simple present (intento).

Nuance:

• intento – focuses on a current, ongoing habit: “I (generally) try…”
• he intentado – highlights the recent past actions, like “I have tried (recently)…”

With Últimamente, both are possible.

• Últimamente intento… = these days this is my habit.
• Últimamente he intentado… = I have made attempts recently; maybe the results are unclear or mixed.

Can Últimamente be replaced with Recientemente, and is there a difference?

You could say:

• Recientemente intento priorizar el estudio de español sobre otras actividades.

Both are understandable, but there’s a nuance:

• Últimamente – “lately / these days,” usually suggests an ongoing situation over a somewhat longer recent period.
• Recientemente – “recently,” often points more to specific recent events or a shorter time frame.

In this kind of “new habit” sentence, Últimamente is more common and natural. Recientemente is used a bit more in news, formal writing, or when referring to specific recent changes.

Why isn’t there a direct object pronoun, like lo, anywhere in the sentence?

All the objects are explicitly mentioned as nouns, so no pronouns are needed:

• Verb: priorizar
• Direct object: el estudio de español
• Comparison element: sobre otras actividades

If you already knew from context what “the study of Spanish” referred to, you could later replace it with a pronoun:

• Últimamente intento priorizarlo sobre otras actividades.
  (lo = el estudio de español)

But since the sentence itself introduces the idea for the first time, it is natural to use the full noun phrase, not a pronoun.

Is the word priorizar common in Latin American Spanish, or is it too formal or “business-like”?

Priorizar is very common and widely understood in Latin America. You’ll hear it in:

• Work and academic contexts
• Personal and everyday contexts (e.g., self-improvement, time management)

It might have a slight “organized / goal-oriented” feel (like English to prioritize), but it does not sound weird or overly technical in this sentence.

In more casual speech, people might also say:

• dar prioridad a… (to give priority to…)
• poner por delante… (to put ahead of…)

But priorizar is completely natural here.