Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): El psiquiatra explica con calma cómo cuidar mi salud mental. - The psychiatrist calmly explains how to take care of my mental health.

In Spanish, not all nouns ending in -a are feminine. Psiquiatra is one of many profession nouns that can be either masculine or feminine, depending on the article:

el psiquiatra = the (male) psychiatrist
la psiquiatra = the (female) psychiatrist

The ending -a here is part of the base word, not a gender marker. The article (el / la) tells you the gender of the person.

Why is there no él before psiquiatra? Why not Él el psiquiatra explica…?

Spanish usually omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the subject.

explica is 3rd person singular, so we know it means he / she / it explains or the psychiatrist explains.
Adding él here would sound wrong: Él el psiquiatra is like saying “He the psychiatrist” in English.

So El psiquiatra explica… already includes the subject; no extra él is needed. You would only add él for contrast or emphasis, e.g. Él explica, no ella (“He explains, not her”).

What tense is explica, and how would it translate into English?

Explica is present indicative, 3rd person singular of explicar (“to explain”).

Depending on context, it can translate as:

“The psychiatrist explains…” (simple present, general statement)
“The psychiatrist is explaining…” (present continuous meaning)
“The psychiatrist does explain…” (for emphasis)

Spanish simple present often covers what English expresses with both “explains” and “is explaining.”

Should there be a me (or another pronoun) after explica? For example, El psiquiatra me explica…?

You can add an indirect object pronoun, but it changes the focus slightly.

El psiquiatra explica cómo cuidar mi salud mental.
= “The psychiatrist explains how to take care of my mental health.” (to someone, in general, or context tells us who)
El psiquiatra me explica cómo cuidar mi salud mental.
= “The psychiatrist explains to me how to take care of my mental health.”

Both are grammatically correct. The original sentence is fine without me; it just doesn’t explicitly say who is receiving the explanation.

What does con calma literally mean, and is it the same as “calmly”? Why not calmamente?

Con calma literally means “with calm” and is a very common way to say “calmly / in a calm way / calmly and unhurriedly.”

You could say:

explica calmadamente or explica calmamente (“explains calmly”)

…but in real-life speech, con calma (or tranquilamente) sounds more natural and common than those adverbs. Spanish often prefers structures like con + noun instead of -mente adverbs.

Why does cómo have an accent here, and when would it be como without an accent?

The accent in cómo tells you it’s being used with the meaning “how” (an interrogative/indirect question word).

Use cómo (with accent) when it means how:

¿Cómo estás? – How are you?
No sé cómo hacerlo. – I don’t know how to do it.
…explica cómo cuidar mi salud mental. – …explains how to take care of my mental health.

Use como (without accent) when it means things like:

as / like:
- Trabajo como enfermero. – I work as a nurse.
- Come como un niño. – He eats like a child.
about / around (with numbers):
- Llegan como a las ocho. – They arrive at about eight.

In your sentence, cómo is part of an indirect question (“how to take care of…”), so it must have the accent.

If cómo means “how,” why are there no question marks in the sentence?

Because this is an indirect question, not a direct question.

Direct question (with question marks):
- ¿Cómo cuido mi salud mental? – “How do I take care of my mental health?”
Indirect question (embedded inside another clause):
- El psiquiatra explica cómo cuidar mi salud mental.
  = “The psychiatrist explains how to take care of my mental health.”

In indirect questions, Spanish still uses the accent (cómo, qué, cuándo, etc.), but does not use ¿ ?.

Why is it cómo cuidar mi salud mental and not cómo cuido mi salud mental, cómo se cuida mi salud mental, or cómo cuidarme?

All of these are possible in different contexts, but they’re slightly different structures:

cómo cuidar mi salud mental
- cuidar is an infinitive (“to take care of”).
- Literally: “how to take care of my mental health.”
- The subject (“I / you / we / one”) is understood from context.
- Very natural after verbs like explicar, enseñar, aprender:
  - me enseña cómo conducir – he teaches me how to drive.
cómo cuido mi salud mental
- cuido is 1st person singular: “how I take care of my mental health.”
- This would be a direct or indirect question about what I (currently) do, not a general method:
  - ¿Cómo cuido mi salud mental? – “How do I take care of my mental health?”
cómo se cuida mi salud mental
- Literally: “how my mental health is taken care of” / “how one takes care of my mental health.”
- Sounds more impersonal or passive-like.
cómo cuidarme
- cuidarme = “to take care of myself.”
- Focuses on me as a person, not specifically my mental health:
  - cómo cuidarme – how to take care of myself (in general)
  - cómo cuidarme la salud mental – how to take care of my mental health (using reflexive + object)

In your sentence, cómo cuidar mi salud mental is the most direct and natural way to express “how to take care of my mental health.”

Why is it cuidar mi salud mental and not cuidar de mi salud mental or cuidar la salud mental?

All of these can appear in Spanish, but there are preferences:

cuidar + direct object (very common, also in Latin America):
- cuidar mi salud mental – take care of my mental health
- cuidar la salud – take care of (one’s) health
- cuidar a los niños – take care of the children
cuidar de + noun is also correct but sounds more formal or more common in Spain:
- cuidar de mi salud mental – take care of my mental health
la salud mental (without mi) is more general:
- cuidar la salud mental – take care of mental health (as a general concept, not necessarily mine)

So cuidar mi salud mental is natural and personal: my mental health, with cuidar taking a direct object.

Why is it mi salud mental and not just la salud mental?

Using mi makes it personal and specific:

mi salud mental = my mental health
la salud mental = mental health in general (a general topic or concept)

So:

El psiquiatra explica cómo cuidar la salud mental.
= The psychiatrist explains how to take care of mental health (in general).
El psiquiatra explica cómo cuidar mi salud mental.
= The psychiatrist explains how to take care of my mental health (more directly about you).

The original sentence is focusing on your own mental health.

Can I move con calma to another place in the sentence, like in English?

Yes, con calma is fairly flexible in word order, though the original is the most neutral:

El psiquiatra explica con calma cómo cuidar mi salud mental. (most natural)
El psiquiatra, con calma, explica cómo cuidar mi salud mental. (adds a slight pause/emphasis)
Con calma, el psiquiatra explica cómo cuidar mi salud mental. (emphasizes the calmness)

You usually wouldn’t put it between cómo and cuidar:

❌ explica cómo con calma cuidar mi salud mental – sounds awkward.

The adverbial phrase con calma normally stays close to the verb it modifies (explica).

How do you pronounce psiquiatra? The spelling looks confusing.

In Latin American Spanish, psiquiatra is pronounced approximately like:

see-kee-AH-trah

Key points:

The p in ps is effectively silent: it sounds like si-.
qui is pronounced like kee (the u is silent).
The stress is on -qui-: psi-(QUI) -a-tra → psi–KYA–tra.

So you get something close to see-kee-AH-tra, said smoothly as one word.