Breakdown of Mi prima paga una suscripción mensual muy baja y así puede renovar el servicio sin problema.
Questions & Answers about Mi prima paga una suscripción mensual muy baja y así puede renovar el servicio sin problema.
Spanish does not have a gender‑neutral word for cousin. You must choose:
- mi primo = my male cousin
- mi prima = my female cousin
The sentence tells you the cousin is female, so it uses prima.
The possessive mi itself does not change for gender:
- mi primo, mi hermano
- mi prima, mi hermana
It only changes for number:
- mi prima (singular) → mis primas (plural)
Paga is the 3rd person singular form of pagar in the present indicative:
- yo pago – I pay
- tú pagas – you pay
- él / ella / usted paga – he / she / you (formal) pay(s)
Since the subject is mi prima (she), you need paga:
- Mi prima paga… = My cousin pays…
If you said Mi prima pago, it would be ungrammatical, because pago only works with yo as the subject.
Pagar is the infinitive (to pay), so you’d use it after another verb, like:
- Mi prima quiere pagar… – My cousin wants to pay…
Spanish normally uses an article (definite or indefinite) with singular countable nouns, where English often allows no article.
Compare:
- Mi prima paga una suscripción mensual…
Literally: My cousin pays a monthly subscription…
If you removed una (Mi prima paga suscripción mensual…), it would sound incomplete or wrong in normal speech.
You would usually omit the article only in special set phrases (e.g. job titles: Es enfermera, She is a nurse). For a thing like suscripción, you generally need una or la, depending on whether it is indefinite or specific.
Basic pattern in Spanish: noun first, adjectives after:
- suscripción mensual = monthly subscription
- suscripción baja = low subscription
With more than one adjective, you usually put:
- More “classifying” / technical adjective first: mensual (monthly: what kind of subscription)
- Then descriptive / qualitative adjective: muy baja (very low)
So:
- una suscripción mensual muy baja
= a (subscription) that is monthly and very low
You can move adjectives before the noun for emphasis or style:
- una muy baja suscripción mensual
This is also correct, but it puts more emphasis on muy baja (how low it is). The original order is more neutral and typical.
Adjectives in Spanish must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.
- suscripción is feminine singular (la suscripción)
- So the adjective must be feminine singular: baja
Patterns:
- Masculine singular: bajo
- Feminine singular: baja
- Masculine plural: bajos
- Feminine plural: bajas
Examples:
- un precio bajo – a low price
- una tarifa baja – a low fee
- unos precios bajos – low prices
- unas tarifas bajas – low fees
It’s technically understandable but sounds unnatural. In Spanish, with multiple adjectives:
- More “inherent/classifying” or technical qualities (like mensual) usually go closer to the noun.
- More descriptive/subjective qualities (like baja, bonita, cómoda) tend to go later.
So:
- Natural: una suscripción mensual muy baja
- Awkward: una suscripción muy baja mensual
The awkward version isn’t grammatically wrong, but it clashes with normal rhythm and expectations.
Mensual is an adjective: monthly (describes a noun).
Mensualmente is an adverb: monthly (describes a verb).
In the sentence:
- suscripción mensual → mensual describes suscripción (a monthly subscription)
If you used mensualmente, it would have to describe the verb paga:
- Mi prima paga mensualmente una suscripción…
= My cousin pays a subscription monthly.
Both are correct, but slightly different focuses:
- suscripción mensual: the type of subscription is monthly.
- paga mensualmente: the way she pays is monthly.
The original sentence emphasizes what kind of subscription it is.
Así literally means like this / in this way / this way / thus.
In y así puede renovar el servicio, y así means:
- and in this way / and thanks to that / and therefore she can renew the service
You could say y entonces puede renovar el servicio, which would mean:
- and then she can renew the service (more of a time sequence: first this, then that)
Difference:
- y así → focuses on method or consequence (how or why she can do it).
- y entonces → focuses on time / order of events.
Here, y así is better because paying a low subscription is the reason or means that allows her to renew the service easily.
In Spanish, poder (can / to be able to) is followed directly by an infinitive without a preposition:
- puede renovar – can renew
- puede pagar – can pay
- puede hacerlo – can do it
You do not add a:
- ❌ puede a renovar
- ✅ puede renovar
Some other verbs do take a before an infinitive (e.g. empezar a hacer, ir a hacer), but poder never does.
In Spanish, when it’s obvious whose thing we’re talking about, the definite article is very common:
- el servicio – the service (understood: the service she has)
- su servicio – her service (more explicit)
Both:
- puede renovar el servicio
- puede renovar su servicio
are grammatically correct.
Using el servicio sounds more neutral and natural when the ownership is already clear from context (we already know we’re talking about mi prima and her subscription). Using su servicio can sound a bit more emphatic or contrastive, like stressing her (as opposed to someone else’s) service.
All three are possible, but they have slightly different flavors:
sin problema
Very common colloquial expression in Latin America, like with no problem / no issue / no hassle.
It’s almost a fixed phrase.sin problemas
Literally without problems. Also very common; sounds just as natural. Often interchangeable with sin problema.sin ningún problema
Literally without any problem at all. Slightly stronger, emphasizes the total absence of difficulties.
So you could say:
- …y así puede renovar el servicio sin problema.
- …y así puede renovar el servicio sin problemas.
- …y así puede renovar el servicio sin ningún problema.
All are correct. The version in the sentence is just a concise, colloquial way to say it.
They are related but not equivalent:
suscribirse = to subscribe / to sign up
- Mi prima se suscribe al servicio.
My cousin subscribes to the service.
- Mi prima se suscribe al servicio.
pagar una suscripción = to pay a subscription (fee)
- Mi prima paga una suscripción mensual muy baja.
My cousin pays a very low monthly subscription.
- Mi prima paga una suscripción mensual muy baja.
Suscribirse is about the act of signing up.
Pagar una suscripción is about paying the fee, usually regularly.
In your sentence, the focus is on the cost/payment that allows her to keep renewing the service, so paga una suscripción mensual muy baja is the right choice.