Breakdown of El psicólogo escucha en silencio cuando hablo de mi familia.
Questions & Answers about El psicólogo escucha en silencio cuando hablo de mi familia.
Because the subject is el psicólogo (the psychologist), which is third person singular.
Conjugation of escuchar in the present:
- yo escucho – I listen
- tú escuchas – you listen
- él/ella escucha – he/she listens
Here we are saying “The psychologist listens…”, so we use él escucha → escucha.
In Spanish, subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, ella, etc.) are usually dropped because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.
We only add them for emphasis or contrast:
- El psicólogo escucha en silencio. – neutral
- Él escucha en silencio, pero ella interrumpe mucho. – contrast: he vs she
So Él psicólogo is incorrect; you say either Él escucha or El psicólogo escucha.
- El psicólogo = the psychologist (a specific one the speaker and listener probably know from context)
- Un psicólogo = a psychologist (not a specific, identified one)
- Mi psicólogo = my psychologist (the one I go to)
The sentence as given suggests we are talking about a particular, known psychologist, so el is natural. Spanish uses definite articles a lot like English uses the.
You change the noun and article to the feminine form:
- La psicóloga escucha en silencio cuando hablo de mi familia.
The rest of the sentence stays the same.
Psicólogo → masculine, psicóloga → feminine.
Pronunciation (Latin American Spanish): [see-KÓ-lo-go]
- The p in ps is silent, so it sounds like sicólogo.
- Syllables: psi–có–lo–go
- The accent mark on ó shows that the stress is on that syllable: psi–CÓ–lo–go.
Without the accent, the default stress would be on lo (psico–LO–go), which would be wrong, so the written accent is necessary.
- Escuchar = to listen (pay attention on purpose)
- Oír = to hear (perceive sounds, not necessarily intentionally)
El psicólogo escucha en silencio… emphasizes that he is actively listening, not just hearing sounds.
Saying El psicólogo oye en silencio is grammatically fine, but sounds odd in this context because therapists are expected to listen carefully.
Both are possible, but en silencio is more common and natural here.
- en silencio = in silence; it describes the state he is in
- silenciosamente = silently; an adverb, often a bit more formal or literary
In everyday Latin American Spanish, escuchar en silencio is the standard expression.
Both are correct:
- cuando hablo de mi familia – neutral, normal
- cuando yo hablo de mi familia – emphasizes I, often to contrast with someone else
Spanish normally omits yo unless you want to stress who is talking.
The verb ending -o in hablo already tells you the subject is yo.
Spanish uses the simple present for habitual actions much more than English:
- El psicólogo escucha en silencio cuando hablo de mi familia.
= “The psychologist listens in silence when I talk about my family (whenever this happens).”
Estoy hablando (I am talking) would focus on right now, at this exact moment, e.g.:
- El psicólogo está escuchando en silencio mientras estoy hablando de mi familia.
Your original sentence talks about what usually happens in sessions, so the simple present (hablo) is correct.
- hablar de algo/alguien = talk about something/someone
Hablo de mi familia. – I talk about my family. - hablar sobre algo = also “talk about,” often a bit more like “on the topic of”
Hablo sobre mi familia. – also correct and natural here. - hablar a alguien = speak to someone (as the audience)
Hablo a mi familia. – I speak to my family (they are listening).
So de mi familia (or sobre mi familia) is needed because the family is the topic, not the people you are directly addressing.
In Spanish, familia is grammatically singular (one family), even though it refers to several people.
- mi familia = my family (one group)
- mis familias = my families (more than one family)
You use mi (singular) because you are talking about one family as a unit.