Mi papá usa corbata negra cuando tiene una reunión importante.

My dad wears a black tie when he has an important meeting.

Breakdown of Mi papá usa corbata negra cuando tiene una reunión importante.

• mi: my
• tener: to have
• cuando: when
• importante: important

Questions & Answers about Mi papá usa corbata negra cuando tiene una reunión importante.

Why is it mi papá and not mi padre?

Both mean my father, but they differ in tone:

• papá = more informal and affectionate, like dad.
• padre = more formal or neutral, like father.

In everyday Latin American Spanish, people usually say mi papá when talking about their own father.
Mi padre sounds more formal, distant, or is used in writing, speeches, or very polite contexts.

So the sentence has a natural, conversational tone by using mi papá.

Why does papá have an accent mark?

The accent mark in papá changes the stress and the meaning:

• papá (stress on the last syllable: pa-PÁ) = dad.
• papa (stress on the first syllable: PA-pa) = potato.
• Papa (capitalized, often without accent in religious use) = Pope.

Spanish uses the written accent to show where the stress goes and to distinguish between different words. Here, we need papá for dad.

Why is it mi and not me or mí?