Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): De niño corrí rápidamente en el patio.

De niño corrí rápidamente en el patio
→ Sounds like one specific occasion in your childhood when you ran quickly.
Cuando era niño, corría rápidamente en el patio
→ Sounds like a habit: you often/usually ran quickly in the yard as a child.

If you keep corrí (preterite) and just replace De niño with Cuando era niño, it still suggests a specific event in that period, not a repeated habit.

If I’m female, do I say De niña instead of De niño?

Yes:

Male speaker: De niño corrí rápidamente en el patio.
Female speaker: De niña corrí rápidamente en el patio.

Plural examples:

Mixed or all-male group: De niños corrimos rápidamente en el patio.
All-female group: De niñas corrimos rápidamente en el patio.

The word for the person (niño/niña/niños/niñas) agrees with who is being described.

Why is there no yo in corrí? How do I know it means “I ran”?

In Spanish, the verb ending shows the subject, so the pronoun is usually omitted:

corrí = I ran (1st person singular, preterite)
corriste = you ran
corrió = he/she/it ran; you (usted) ran

Because corrí can only be yo in this tense, you don’t need yo. You could say:

De niño yo corrí rápidamente en el patio.

but that sounds like you’re emphasizing I, possibly in contrast with others. The neutral, natural version is without yo.

Why is corrí (preterite) used and not corría (imperfect)? Which one is more natural here?

corrí (preterite) = a completed, specific event in the past
corría (imperfect) = ongoing or habitual action in the past

So:

De niño corrí rápidamente en el patio.
→ Feels like one time, maybe one memorable occasion as a child.
De niño corría rápidamente en el patio.
→ Means As a child, I (usually/used to) run quickly in the yard.

In real Latin American Spanish, if you’re talking about a general habit in childhood, corría is more natural:

De niño corría rápido en el patio.

Your original sentence with corrí is grammatically correct but sounds like a single event unless more context is given.

Is rápidamente the same as rápido? Which is more common?

Both can mean “quickly”, but usage differs:

rápidamente
- Pure adverb: “rapidly / quickly”
- More formal or bookish in everyday speech.
- Example: El coche avanzó rápidamente.
rápido
- As an adjective: un coche rápido (a fast car)
- As an adverb (very common in speech): Corrí rápido. = I ran quickly.
- Very natural in Latin American conversation.

So in casual Latin American Spanish, people would much more often say:

De niño corría rápido en el patio.

rather than rápidamente.

Where can I put rápidamente in the sentence? Can I move it?

Yes, adverbs like rápidamente are fairly flexible. All of these are possible:

De niño corrí rápidamente en el patio.
De niño rápidamente corrí en el patio.
Rápidamente corrí en el patio de niño. (a bit more literary / marked)

Most neutral:

De niño corrí rápidamente en el patio.
De niño corrí rápido en el patio. (more natural in speech)

Moving rápidamente to the very front or right before the verb adds a slight emphasis on how you ran.

Why does corrí have an accent mark on the í?

The accent shows where the stress falls and also follows spelling rules:

Verbs ending in -í (like corrí, bebí, viví) are stressed on that last vowel, so they need an accent.
Without the accent, the default stress for a word ending in a vowel is on the second-to-last syllable, which would be wrong here.

So:

corrí is pronounced co-RRÍ (stress on the last syllable).
niño is NI-ño (tilde on ñ is a different letter, not an accent mark).

The accent on corrí also distinguishes it from other forms (like corre, corro, etc.).

Is en el patio the only correct preposition? What about al patio or por el patio?

Each preposition changes the meaning slightly:

en el patio = in the yard / in the patio (location)
→ You were inside that space.
por el patio = through/around the yard
→ Emphasizes movement around the area, not just being located there.
→ Corrí por el patio. = I ran around the yard.
al patio = to the yard (a + el)
→ Would usually go with ir or another verb of motion to express destination:
- Fui corriendo al patio. = I ran to the yard.

In your sentence you’re focusing on running while located in the yard, so en el patio is the natural choice.

Do I have to say el in el patio? Could I say en patio or en mi patio?

You must have some determiner; bare en patio is incorrect in this context.

Possible forms:

en el patio = in the (yard/patio) – a specific one, usually understood from context (often your home’s).
en mi patio = in my yard.
en el patio de mi casa = in my house’s yard.

So:

✅ De niño corrí rápidamente en el patio.
✅ De niño corría rápido en mi patio.
❌ De niño corrí rápidamente en patio.

Can I put de niño at the end, like Corrí rápidamente en el patio de niño?

You can, but it changes the feel a bit.

De niño corrí rápidamente en el patio.
→ Very clear: As a child, I ran quickly in the yard.
Corrí rápidamente en el patio de niño.
→ Still understandable, but “de niño” sounds more like a little afterthought.
→ Some people might even momentarily read el patio de niño as “the boy’s yard” (not the intended meaning), especially in writing without commas.

More natural alternatives:

Cuando era niño, corría rápido en el patio.
De niño, corría rápido en el patio.

Placing de niño at the beginning is the clearest and most typical structure for “as a child.”

Is this sentence talking about a one-time event or a repeated action in childhood?

With corrí (preterite), by default it suggests a one-time or completed event:

De niño corrí rápidamente en el patio.
→ One time, when I was a child, I ran quickly in the yard.

If you want to clearly express a habit or repeated action, you should use the imperfect:

De niño corría rápido en el patio.
→ As a child, I used to run fast in the yard.

So the aspect (preterite vs imperfect) changes the interpretation.

How would I say “As a kid I used to run fast in the yard” more idiomatically in Latin American Spanish?

Some natural options:

De niño corría rápido en el patio.
Cuando era niño, corría muy rápido en el patio.
De niño solía correr rápido en el patio de mi casa. (using solía = “used to”, a bit more explicit/literary)

Among these, De niño corría rápido en el patio is short, common, and sounds very natural.

Does patio mean exactly the same as “yard” or “backyard”?

Not exactly; it depends on the country and context:

patio in much of Latin America:
- Can be a yard, a courtyard, or an open area (paved or not) attached to a house.
- Often used where English speakers would say yard or backyard.
jardín:
- More like garden / yard with plants/grass.

So in many Latin American contexts, el patio is a natural translation for “the yard” or “the backyard,” especially for a family home’s outdoor area.

Is De niño corrí rápidamente en el patio a natural sentence in Latin American Spanish?

Grammatically, yes. It’s correct and understandable.

Stylistically:

With corrí, it sounds like you're recalling one specific occasion in childhood.
rápidamente is a bit formal for everyday speech; rápido is more usual.

For a typical, conversational way to express a general habit, most speakers would prefer something like:

De niño corría rápido en el patio.
Cuando era niño, corría muy rápido en el patio.

Your sentence works; just be aware of its “one-time event” + slightly formal adverb flavor.