Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): En casa vemos un programa donde la prensa y las periodistas hacen preguntas difíciles pero respetuosas. - At home we watch a show where the press and female journalists ask tough but respectful questions.

En casa = at home (focus on the idea of being at one’s home in general)
- En casa vemos un programa. = At home we watch a show.
En la casa = in the house (focus on the physical building, often contrasted with outside)
- En la casa hace frío, pero afuera hace calor. = In the house it’s cold, but outside it’s hot.

So En casa here is the natural way to say “At home we watch a program…”

Why is it vemos un programa and not miramos un programa?

Both ver and mirar can be used in Latin America, but there are nuances and regional preferences.

ver = to see / to watch (more general)
- Common and fully correct: ver la tele, ver una película, ver un programa.
mirar = to look (at), to watch (more active focus)
- Also common in many Latin American countries: mirar la tele, mirar una serie.

In most of Latin America, ver un programa and mirar un programa would both be understood and often used. The sentence chooses vemos simply as a standard, neutral way of saying “we watch a program.”

Why is programa masculine (un programa) if it ends in -a?

Some Spanish nouns that end in -ma are masculine, especially those of Greek origin. Common examples:

el programa – the program / show
el problema – the problem
el sistema – the system
el tema – the theme / topic
el poema – the poem

So we say:

un programa interesante (not una programa)
el programa nuevo (not la programa).

You just have to memorize that programa is masculine: el / un programa.

Why is donde used with un programa? A program isn’t a place, so why “where”?

In Spanish, donde can work like “where / in which” and doesn’t always require a physical location. It can refer to:

A place: una ciudad donde vivo – a city where I live
A context / situation: una reunión donde hablamos de política – a meeting where / in which we talk about politics
A show: un programa donde hacen entrevistas – a show where / in which they do interviews

So in un programa donde la prensa y las periodistas hacen preguntas…, donde means “in which / where” (in that program).

You could also say:

un programa en el que la prensa y las periodistas hacen preguntas…
un programa en el cual la prensa y las periodistas hacen preguntas…

These are a bit more formal, but also correct.

What exactly does la prensa mean, and why is it singular and feminine?

La prensa is a collective noun meaning “the press” (as in media, journalists, news outlets), not a single “press machine.”

It’s always feminine singular:
- la prensa nacional, la prensa internacional
- La prensa está hablando de las elecciones.

Even though it refers to many people/organizations, grammatically it behaves like a singular feminine noun:

La prensa hace preguntas. = The press asks questions. (verb in singular)

In the sentence, la prensa is one of the subjects joined with y (and), so the verb becomes plural: la prensa y las periodistas hacen…

Why is the verb plural: la prensa y las periodistas hacen and not hace?

Because there are two subjects joined by y:

la prensa (the press) – singular
las periodistas (the female journalists) – plural

When you join them with y, together they form a plural subject, so the verb must be in third person plural:

La prensa y las periodistas hacen preguntas…
= The press and the (female) journalists ask questions…

If you only had one subject:

La prensa hace preguntas… (singular)
Las periodistas hacen preguntas… (plural)

Why is it las periodistas and not just los periodistas?

Periodista is one of those nouns where the form doesn’t change, but the article shows the gender:

el periodista – the (male) journalist
la periodista – the (female) journalist
los periodistas – (male journalists / mixed group)
las periodistas – (female journalists only)

Using las periodistas very strongly suggests we’re talking specifically about women journalists. If you wanted to speak generically about journalists (men and/or women), you would typically see:

los periodistas (generic masculine, still very common in Latin America)
or increasingly, more inclusive forms like las y los periodistas in some contexts.

So the sentence is highlighting women journalists: “the press and the women journalists…”

Why is it hacen preguntas and not preguntan preguntas?

In Spanish, you normally don’t say preguntar preguntas. Instead, the natural expression is:

hacer una pregunta = to ask a question
hacer preguntas = to ask questions

So:

La prensa hace preguntas. = The press asks questions.
Voy a hacerte una pregunta. = I’m going to ask you a question.

Preguntar is used differently:

preguntar algo a alguien:
- Le pregunté la hora. = I asked him/her the time.
preguntar si / qué / cuándo…
- Te quiero preguntar si vienes. = I want to ask you if you’re coming.
- Me preguntó qué pasó. = He/she asked me what happened.

So in this context, hacen preguntas is the correct, idiomatic choice.

Why do difíciles and respetuosas end in -es and -as? What are they agreeing with?

They are adjectives describing preguntas (questions).

preguntas is feminine plural:
- singular: la pregunta
- plural: las preguntas

So both adjectives must agree in gender (feminine) and number (plural):

difíciles – plural of difícil (same form for masculine/feminine, singular plural: difícil → difíciles)
respetuosas – feminine plural of respetuoso/respetuosa

Full agreement:

preguntas difíciles pero respetuosas

If it were singular:

una pregunta difícil pero respetuosa

Why do the adjectives come after the noun (preguntas difíciles pero respetuosas) and not before, like in English?

In Spanish, the default position for most descriptive adjectives is after the noun:

un libro interesante – an interesting book
una película larga – a long movie
preguntas difíciles – difficult questions

Some adjectives can go before or after, sometimes with a nuance change, but for neutral description, after the noun is safest.

Putting adjectives before the noun often adds a more subjective, emotional, or stylistic tone:

un gran problema (a big/serious problem) vs. un problema grande (physically big or just literally big)

Here, we are just describing the type of questions, so preguntas difíciles pero respetuosas is the standard word order.

What does pero add in difíciles pero respetuosas? Could you use y instead?

pero = but / yet / however, adds a contrast
y = and, just adds another similar idea

difíciles pero respetuosas implies:

The questions are tough, challenging (difíciles),
but nevertheless they are polite and respectful (respetuosas).

It hints that difficult questions could easily be rude, but in this case they are not.

If you say:

preguntas difíciles y respetuosas

it simply lists two qualities, without that small feeling of “even though they’re difficult, they’re still respectful.” The version with pero sounds more natural to highlight the contrast.

Can I change the word order to Vemos un programa en casa? Is that still correct?

Yes, it’s correct, and very natural. Both are fine:

En casa vemos un programa…
Vemos un programa en casa…

The difference is mostly in emphasis:

En casa vemos un programa… emphasizes “at home” first (location / context).
Vemos un programa en casa… emphasizes what you do (we watch a show) and then adds where.

In speech or writing, you might also see:

En casa, vemos un programa… (comma adds a slight pause, but grammar is the same).