Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Mi aplicación cuenta cuántas calorías consumo cuando corro en el parque. - My app counts how many calories I consume when I run in the park.

Contar can mean “to count” (numbers, calories, etc.) and also “to tell” (a story, information).
In this sentence, Mi aplicación cuenta… means “My app counts…”.
The full present‑tense forms of contar (o → ue stem‑change) are: cuento, cuentas, cuenta, contamos, cuentan.

Why is it cuenta cuántas calorías… and not cuenta de cuántas calorías…?

In Spanish, contar does not need a preposition like de before a clause that works as its object.

Correct: Mi aplicación cuenta cuántas calorías consumo…
Incorrect: ❌ Mi aplicación cuenta de cuántas calorías consumo…

The clause cuántas calorías consumo directly functions as the object of cuenta, so you go straight from the verb to the clause, with no preposition in between.

Why does cuántas have an accent if this isn’t a direct question?

Words like qué, quién, cuándo, cómo, cuánto, cuántas take an accent mark whenever they introduce a question or exclamation, including indirect questions.

Direct question: ¿Cuántas calorías consumo?
Indirect question: Mi aplicación cuenta cuántas calorías consumo.

Even though the whole sentence isn’t written with question marks, cuántas still introduces a “how many?” idea, so it keeps the accent.

Why is it cuántas calorías and not cuánto calorías or cuántos calorías?

Cuánto / cuánta / cuántos / cuántas agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.

Caloría is feminine singular: una caloría.
Calorías is feminine plural: las calorías.

So you must use the feminine plural form: cuántas calorías.

Cuánto calorías = wrong gender.
Cuántos calorías = wrong gender.

Why is the word order cuántas calorías consumo and not cuántas calorías yo consumo?

Both are grammatically possible, but Spanish usually omits subject pronouns when they’re clear from the verb ending.

Most natural: …cuántas calorías consumo…
Also correct (more emphatic or contrastive): …cuántas calorías yo consumo…

The verb ending -o already tells you the subject is yo, so adding yo is optional and often unnecessary.

Why do we use consumo here instead of a verb like como (“I eat”) or quemo (“I burn”)?

Consumir is often used with calorías to mean “to take in / use up calories”, regardless of whether they’re coming from food or being burned by activity.

consumo calorías = I consume/use calories (neutral, covers intake and sometimes expenditure in fitness contexts).
como calorías = I eat calories (focus only on eating/ingestion).
quemo calorías = I burn calories (focus on energy expenditure, e.g. exercise).

In many fitness/health contexts, apps talk about consumir calorías for what you take in and quemar calorías for what you burn, but usage can vary by app or person.

Why are consumo and corro in the present tense? Could we use another tense?

The present indicative in Spanish is used a lot for general habits and regular actions, just like in English:

consumo = “I consume” / “I (usually) consume”
corro = “I run” / “I (usually) run”

Here the idea is a regular situation: whenever I run in the park, the app counts my calories.

You could change the tense to shift the time frame:

consumí / corrí = I consumed / I ran (one specific past time).
consumiré / correré = I will consume / I will run (future situation).
But for a habitual, general statement, the present tense is the standard choice.

Why is it cuando corro and not cuando corra? Isn’t cuando often followed by the subjunctive?

Cuando can be followed by indicative or subjunctive, depending on the meaning:

Indicative (as in this sentence) for habitual / repeated or factual actions:
- Mi aplicación cuenta cuántas calorías consumo cuando corro en el parque.
  = Whenever I run in the park (as a regular thing), the app counts my calories.
Subjunctive for future, uncertain, or not‑yet‑realized actions:
- Mi aplicación contará cuántas calorías consuma cuando corra en el parque.
  = It will count how many calories I consume when I run in the park (in the future).

Here we’re talking about a routine, so cuando corro (indicative) is correct.

Why do we say en el parque and not al parque or por el parque?

The preposition changes the nuance:

en el parque = in the park (location; you’re inside the park area).
al parque = to the park (movement or destination: Voy al parque = I’m going to the park).
por el parque = roughly through / around / around in the park (movement within/around the area: corro por el parque = I run around the park).

The original sentence just needs to say where you are running, not where you are going, so en el parque is a natural, simple choice.

Could we also say La aplicación cuenta las calorías que consumo cuando corro en el parque? How is that different from cuántas calorías consumo?

Yes, this is also correct, but the focus is slightly different:

cuenta cuántas calorías consumo
- Emphasizes the number; it’s like embedding the question “how many calories do I consume?” inside the sentence.
cuenta las calorías que consumo
- Emphasizes the calories themselves as a group; it sounds more like “counts the calories that I consume” without explicitly highlighting the idea of “how many?”.

In practice, both can describe the same kind of app function; cuántas calorías is a bit more clearly about the amount/number.