Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Quiero estar sano para disfrutar del parque con mi familia. - I want to be healthy to enjoy the park with my family.

estar + adjective = a state or condition (often changeable):
- estar sano = “to be healthy / in good health (now, as a condition)”
ser + adjective = an essential quality or defining characteristic:
- ser sano = “to be healthy (by nature / as a generally healthy person or thing)”

In Quiero estar sano, the focus is on being in good health in order to enjoy the park. Health is treated as a condition you want to be in, so estar is more natural here.

You could say Quiero ser sano, but it would sound more like “I want to be a (generally) healthy person,” as a more permanent trait or lifestyle choice, not just “I want to be healthy (so I can go to the park).”

Can I say saludable instead of sano? What’s the difference?

Both exist, but they’re not always interchangeable:

sano / sana usually describes a person’s or animal’s health:
- Estoy sano. = “I am healthy.”
saludable often describes things, habits, environments that are good for your health:
- Comida saludable = “healthy food”
- Un estilo de vida saludable = “a healthy lifestyle”

For a person’s current state of health, estar sano is the most natural:

Quiero estar sano sounds perfect.
Quiero estar saludable is understandable, but less common and can sound slightly odd in many contexts.

So: keep sano for “I (as a person) am healthy.” Use saludable mainly for food, habits, lifestyle, etc.

How would the sentence change if the speaker is a woman, or if it’s “we” instead of “I”?

The adjective sano has to agree in gender and number with the subject.

Original (male speaker, singular):
- Quiero estar sano…
Female speaker (singular):
- Quiero estar sana para disfrutar del parque con mi familia.
Group including at least one male (we):
- Queremos estar sanos para disfrutar del parque con nuestra familia.
Group of only women (we):
- Queremos estar sanas para disfrutar del parque con nuestra familia.

Notice the changes:

quiero → queremos (I want → we want)
sano → sanos / sanas (to match plural and gender)
mi familia → nuestra familia (my → our)

Why is it quiero estar and not quiero estoy or quiero que estoy?

In Spanish, when you say you want to do something yourself, you use querer + infinitive:

Quiero estar sano. = “I want to be healthy.”
Quiero comer. = “I want to eat.”
Quiero ir al parque. = “I want to go to the park.”

So:

quiero estar = “I want to be” (correct)
quiero estoy = wrong structure
quiero que estoy = wrong; you don’t use this pattern

You use querer que + subjunctive when someone else is doing the action:

Quiero que estés sano. = “I want you to be healthy.”
(different subject: I want you to be healthy)

Why do we use para disfrutar and not por disfrutar here?

para and por are very different:

para frequently expresses purpose / goal / “in order to”:
- Quiero estar sano para disfrutar del parque.
  = “I want to be healthy in order to enjoy the park.”
por is more about cause, reason, exchange, movement through, duration, etc.
In this sentence, you aren’t saying “because of enjoying the park,” you are saying “so that I can enjoy the park.” That’s purpose, so para is the correct choice.

If you changed it:

Quiero estar sano por disfrutar del parque
would sound wrong or at least very unnatural in standard Spanish.

Why is it disfrutar del parque and not just disfrutar el parque?

The verb disfrutar can work in two ways:

disfrutar de + noun (very common and traditional):
- disfrutar del parque = “to enjoy the park”
- disfrutar de la vida = “to enjoy life”
disfrutar + direct object (also widely used and accepted):
- disfrutar el parque
- disfrutar la vida

In many places, especially in Latin America, both are heard.
disfrutar de can sound a bit more formal or traditional; disfrutar el is more direct.

In this sentence, disfrutar del parque is completely natural and standard.
If you said disfrutar el parque, it would also be understood and generally acceptable, especially in Latin America.

Also, del = de + el, a mandatory contraction (see next Q).

What exactly is del in del parque? Why not de el parque?

del is the contraction of de + el:

de + el parque → del parque

Spanish must contract de + el → del, and a + el → al:

Voy a el parque → Voy al parque.
Vengo de el parque → Vengo del parque.

So disfrutar del parque is just disfrutar de el parque with the required contraction, which is obligatory in standard Spanish.

Can I move con mi familia earlier in the sentence, or does it have to be at the end?

You have some flexibility in Spanish word order as long as it stays clear and natural. All of these are possible, with slightly different emphasis:

Quiero estar sano para disfrutar del parque con mi familia.
(very natural, neutral order)
Quiero estar sano para disfrutar con mi familia del parque.
(OK, a bit more focus on “with my family”)
Quiero estar sano para, con mi familia, disfrutar del parque.
(possible, but sounds more literary or marked in everyday speech)

Keeping con mi familia at the end is the most straightforward and typical in everyday Latin American Spanish.

Why is it mi familia and not mis familia if “family” includes several people?

In Spanish, mi / mis agree with the grammatical number of the noun, not the number of people it refers to.

familia is grammatically singular, so you use mi:
- mi familia = “my family” (as one unit)

If you talk about families in the plural (rare in this kind of sentence), then you’d use mis:

mis familias = “my families” (e.g., in a very specific context: divorced parents, adopted family, etc.)

Also note:

Mi familia es grande. (singular verb: “My family is big.”)

Could I say Quiero estar sano para ir al parque con mi familia instead? Is there a difference?

Yes, that’s correct Spanish, but the meaning shifts slightly:

para disfrutar del parque = “in order to enjoy the park”
(focus on the experience you’ll have there)
para ir al parque = “in order to go to the park”
(focus on the action of going)

Both are natural:

Quiero estar sano para disfrutar del parque con mi familia.
= I want to be healthy so I can enjoy being in the park.
Quiero estar sano para ir al parque con mi familia.
= I want to be healthy so I can go to the park (at all).

The original gives a bit more emphasis to the enjoyment itself.

How would I say this more politely or less direct than quiero?

You can soften quiero in several ways:

Me gustaría estar sano para disfrutar del parque con mi familia.
= “I would like to be healthy…”
Quisiera estar sano para disfrutar del parque con mi familia.
(more formal or polite in many regions; literally a past subjunctive form used as a polite “I would like.”)

Both sound less blunt than Quiero estar sano…, which is perfectly fine but quite direct: “I want to be healthy…”

Any tips on pronouncing the sentence naturally?

Key points:

Quiero: stress on -e- → KYE-ro (the ie is like “yeh”).
estar: stress on -tar → es-TAR.
sano: stress on sa- → SA-no (short, clear a, not “say-no”).
disfrutar: stress on -tar → dis-fru-TAR. Roll/flap the r in -tar.
parque: PAR-ke (the que = “keh”).
familia: fa-MI-lia, with li like “lyah” in many accents.

Rhythm:
Quie-ro es-TAR SA-no / pa-ra dis-fru-TAR del PAR-que con mi fa-MI-lia.

Try to link words slightly:
…estar_sano para_disfrutar_del_parque con_mi_familia.