Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): A veces mi papá toma un refresco, pero en general bebe agua o té. - Sometimes my dad has a soda, but in general he drinks water or tea.

It does not have to be at the start. You can also say:
- Mi papá a veces toma un refresco.
- Mi papá toma un refresco a veces. (more common in speech than in writing)
Putting A veces at the beginning just emphasizes the idea of sometimes and sounds very natural in written Spanish.
The comma after A veces is common but not absolutely required: A veces, mi papá… / A veces mi papá…

Why is it mi papá and not mi padre?

Both are correct, but they feel different:

mi papá = my dad
- More informal and affectionate.
- Very common in Latin America for all ages, not just children.
mi padre = my father
- More formal or neutral.
- Used in more serious contexts, or more often in Spain in everyday speech.

In Latin American Spanish, mi papá is usually the most natural in a sentence like this.

Why does papá have an accent, and why isn’t it capitalized?

1. Accent mark

papá has the stress on the last syllable: pa‑PÁ.
Without the accent (papa), the stress would fall on the first syllable (PA‑pa) and the word would usually mean potato or Pope (depending on context).
The accent changes both the stress and the meaning.

2. Capitalization

You write papá with a lowercase p when it has a determiner like mi, tu, su:
- mi papá, tu papá, su papá.
You capitalize it when you use it like a name, in direct address:
- Hola, Papá.
- Papá, ¿puedes ayudarme?

Why is there no subject pronoun like él in the sentence?

Spanish usually drops subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

toma and bebe are both he/she/you-formal forms of the verb.
So mi papá toma already makes it clear that he (my dad) is the subject; él is not needed.
You could say Él a veces toma un refresco, but it’s only used for:
- emphasis: Él, no ella
- contrast: Él toma agua, pero ella toma café.

What’s the difference between toma and bebe? Don’t they both mean “drinks”?

Yes, both tomar and beber can mean to drink, but there are nuances:

beber = literally to drink (almost always about liquids).
tomar = very common, and more general:
- to drink: tomar agua, tomar cerveza
- to take: tomar una pastilla (take a pill), tomar el autobús (take the bus)

In many parts of Latin America, tomar is extremely common for drinking, especially alcohol (tomar cerveza, tomar vino).

In this sentence, using toma first and bebe later mostly avoids repetition and sounds natural. You could also say:

A veces mi papá bebe un refresco…
…pero en general toma agua o té.

They would still be correct.

Can I say bebe un refresco or toma agua instead? Is the meaning different?

Yes, both are correct:

bebe un refresco – totally fine.
toma un refresco – very common too.
bebe agua – fine.
toma agua – also very common, especially in Latin America.

The difference is mostly style and regional preference; the basic meaning is the same: he drinks / has that beverage.

What exactly does un refresco mean in Latin American Spanish, and why is there un?

1. Meaning

In most of Latin America, un refresco usually means:

a soda / soft drink, typically carbonated (Coke, Sprite, etc.).

Other local words exist, like gaseosa or soda, but refresco is widely understood.

2. The article un

You use un because you’re talking about one portion / one drink, like English a soda:

toma un refresco = he has a (single) soda.

Saying toma refresco (without the article) is not the normal way to say it; with countable things like un refresco, you usually need un / una / unos / unas.

Why is there no article before agua or té in bebe agua o té?

Here, agua and té are being talked about in a general way, like water in general and tea in general:

bebe agua = he drinks water (as a habit), not any specific water.
bebe té = he drinks tea (in general), not a specific tea.

With mass or generic nouns, Spanish often omits the article:

bebe café = he drinks coffee
come pan = he eats bread

If you add an article, the meaning changes:

bebe el agua = he drinks the water (some specific water already known).
bebe un té = he has a tea (one cup of tea).

Is agua feminine or masculine?

agua is grammatically feminine, but:

In the singular with the definite article, you say el agua, not la agua, to avoid the sound clash of two stressed a sounds:
- el agua fría (but its adjective stays feminine: fría, not frío)
In the plural, you go back to a clearly feminine article: las aguas frías.

In this sentence, there’s no article (just agua), so you don’t see this issue.

What does en general mean here, and could I say something else instead?

en general means in general / generally / as a rule / most of the time.

So pero en general bebe agua o té =
but generally he drinks water or tea.

You could replace it with:

generalmente bebe agua o té
por lo general bebe agua o té

All of these are natural and very similar in meaning.

Why is it pero and not sino?

Use:

pero when you contrast two ideas, and the first one is still true.
sino when you correct a negative statement (the first part is rejected).

In the sentence:

A veces mi papá toma un refresco = sometimes he does drink soda (this is true).
pero en general bebe agua o té = contrast: usually he drinks water or tea.

Because the first idea is not being denied, pero is correct.

Examples with sino:

No bebe refresco, sino agua.
(He doesn’t drink soda, but rather water.)
No estudia medicina, sino ingeniería.
(He doesn’t study medicine, but rather engineering.)

Why does té have an accent?

Normally, one‑syllable words in Spanish do not carry an accent.
But some get an accent to distinguish meaning (called tilde diacrítica).

té (with accent) = tea (the drink)
te (without accent) = you (object pronoun), as in Te veo (I see you).

So in bebe agua o té, the accent shows it means tea, not you.

Why is it agua o té and not agua y té?

o = or (one or the other)
y = and (both)

bebe agua o té suggests:

He generally drinks either water or tea, depending on the occasion.

If you wanted to say he typically drinks both, you’d say:

En general bebe agua y té.

I’ve seen o change to u before some words. Should it be u té instead of o té?

No, here o is correct.

o changes to u only before words that start with the sound /o/ (usually written o or ho):
- siete u ocho
- uno u otro
- hombres u ovejas
té starts with a t, not with an /o/ sound, so it stays:
- agua o té

Is the present tense here talking about right now or about a habit?

In this sentence, the present tense describes a habitual action:

A veces mi papá toma un refresco, pero en general bebe agua o té.
= Sometimes he has a soda, but as a general habit he drinks water or tea.

Spanish present tense is used, like English present simple, for routines and habits, not only for actions happening right now.

Can the word order change in this sentence?

Yes, several variations are possible and natural. For example:

Mi papá a veces toma un refresco, pero en general bebe agua o té.
A veces mi papá toma un refresco, pero generalmente bebe agua o té.
Mi papá, a veces, toma un refresco, pero en general bebe agua o té. (more written/literary)

The main constraints:

Keep mi papá close to its verbs (toma, bebe).
Don’t separate un refresco (article + noun).
Keep en general near bebe.

All of these preserve the same basic meaning.