Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Ella busca una jornada más corta para pasar tiempo con su hija. - She is looking for a shorter workday in order to spend time with her daughter.

In English we strongly prefer the -ing form (“is looking for”) for an action happening around now.
In Spanish, the simple present (busca) already covers that idea in many everyday contexts.

Use está buscando when you really want to emphasize that the action is in progress right now or is especially active/temporary:

Ahora mismo está buscando trabajo.
Right now she is looking for a job.

In this sentence, busca is the default, natural choice.

Why doesn’t Spanish say busca por or busca para, like “look for”?

In Spanish, the verb buscar already includes the idea of “for”.
So you say:

buscar trabajo = to look for a job
buscar las llaves = to look for the keys
buscar una jornada más corta = to look for a shorter workday

Adding por (buscar por) in this meaning is normally incorrect in standard Spanish (it can appear in some dialects, but you should avoid it as a learner).

So:

✅ Ella busca una jornada más corta…
❌ Ella busca por una jornada más corta… (wrong in neutral Spanish)

What exactly does jornada mean here? Why not día or trabajo?

In this context, jornada refers specifically to your workday / working hours, not just any “day” or “job”.

Common meanings in Latin American Spanish:

jornada laboral = workday, working day
jornada completa = full-time schedule
media jornada = half-time / part-time schedule

So una jornada más corta means something like:

a shorter workday
a shorter work schedule / shift
a reduction in working hours

If you said:

un día más corto – a shorter day (very general, could be any day)
un trabajo más corto – sounds odd; trabajo is “job” or “work”, not the length of the workday.

So jornada is the natural word when talking about the length of the working day.

Why is it más corta (feminine) and not más corto?

Adjectives in Spanish must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

jornada is a feminine noun (la jornada).
Therefore, the adjective must also be feminine: corta.

So:

una jornada corta (feminine)
una jornada más corta (feminine + comparative)

If it were a masculine noun, the adjective would change:

un horario más corto (masculine: el horario → corto)

Why is it para pasar and not para pasa or por pasar?

para
- infinitive (base form) is the standard way to express purpose in Spanish:
- para pasar tiempo = in order to spend time
- para estudiar = in order to study
- para descansar = in order to rest
After para, you use the infinitive: pasar, not pasa.
❌ para pasa → incorrect.
por pasar would change the meaning. Por tends to mean things like “because of / due to / by / through” and not a clear purpose:
- Lo castigaron por llegar tarde.
  He was punished for arriving late (because of).

Here we need the idea of purpose/goal, so para pasar is correct.

Why is it pasar tiempo and not gastar tiempo or something else?

To say “spend time (with someone)”, Spanish uses pasar tiempo (con alguien):

pasar tiempo con su hija = to spend time with her daughter

Examples:

Me gusta pasar tiempo con mi familia.
Pasan mucho tiempo juntos.

Gastar tiempo exists, but it usually has a sense closer to “waste time” or “use up time”, and it normally doesn’t take con alguien:

No quiero gastar tiempo en eso.
I don’t want to waste time on that.

So in this sentence, pasar tiempo con su hija is the natural expression.

Why is there no article with tiempo? Why not para pasar el tiempo con su hija?

Without an article, tiempo is used in a general, indefinite way:

pasar tiempo con su hija = to spend time with her daughter (some time, in general)

Adding el makes it more specific or sounds like “the time” as a known block of time:

pasar el tiempo con su hija can sound like:
- to pass the time with her daughter (to keep from being bored), or
- to spend that particular time with her daughter.

In most cases where English says “spend time with…”, Spanish simply uses pasar tiempo con… (no article).

Whose daughter is su hija? Could it be “his” daughter or “their” daughter too?

Yes. Su is ambiguous in Spanish; it can mean:

his
her
your (formal, singular)
their
your (plural, in some countries)

So su hija can mean:

her daughter
his daughter
their daughter
your daughter (formal)

In this sentence, context (we start with Ella) strongly suggests we mean her daughter.

If you needed to make it absolutely clear it’s her daughter (and not his), you could say:

…para pasar tiempo con la hija de ella.
(with her daughter)

This is used when you really must remove all ambiguity.

Could I drop Ella and just say Busca una jornada más corta…?

Yes. Spanish often omits subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows the subject:

Busca una jornada más corta…
She is looking for a shorter workday…

The form busca clearly indicates he/she/it/you (formal). In real contexts, earlier sentences or the situation normally tell you who the subject is.

Including Ella:

can clarify the subject if it isn’t clear from context, or
can add emphasis: She (as opposed to someone else) is looking.

So both are grammatically fine:

Ella busca… (a bit more explicit/emphatic)
Busca… (more typical once the subject is known from context)

Are there other common ways to say una jornada más corta in Latin American Spanish?

Yes, depending on what exactly you mean, people might also say:

un horario más corto – a shorter schedule
un horario más flexible – a more flexible schedule
un trabajo de medio tiempo / un trabajo de medio tiempo – a part-time job
un trabajo de tiempo parcial – part-time job (more formal)
reducir su jornada laboral – reduce her working hours

So you could see sentences like:

Ella busca un trabajo de medio tiempo para pasar tiempo con su hija.
She is looking for a part-time job to spend time with her daughter.

But una jornada más corta is perfectly natural if the focus is specifically on a shorter workday/shift.