En la cabaña guardamos cada saco de dormir cerca de la puerta para salir temprano a hacer senderismo.

In the cabin we keep each sleeping bag near the door to go out early to go hiking.

Breakdown of En la cabaña guardamos cada saco de dormir cerca de la puerta para salir temprano a hacer senderismo.

• en: in
• nosotros: we
• la puerta: the door
• cada: each, every
• temprano: early
• a: to
• para: to
• cerca de: near
• hacer: to do
• salir: to go out
• guardar: to keep
• la cabaña: the cabin
• el saco de dormir: the sleeping bag
• el senderismo: the hiking

Questions & Answers about En la cabaña guardamos cada saco de dormir cerca de la puerta para salir temprano a hacer senderismo.

Why is there no nosotros before guardamos? Don’t we need the subject pronoun?

In Spanish, the verb ending usually makes the subject pronoun unnecessary.

• guardamos clearly shows 1st person plural (we).
• So En la cabaña guardamos… is naturally understood as “In the cabin we store…”.

You only add nosotros to:

• Emphasize or contrast:
  
  • Nosotros guardamos los sacos, no ellos. – We store the sleeping bags, not them.
• Avoid confusion when context isn’t clear.

Most of the time, especially in narration, Spanish omits nosotros when the verb form already makes it clear.

Guardamos can be present or past. Is this sentence talking about the present or the past? How can I tell?

Guardamos (1st person plural) works for:

• Present: we store / we put away
  
  • En la cabaña guardamos… – In the cabin we (usually) store…
• Preterite (simple past): we stored / we put away
  
  • Ayer guardamos los sacos. – Yesterday we stored the sleeping bags.

In your sentence there’s no time expression (like ayer, siempre, todos los veranos), so it could be either, depending on context. A likely interpretation is:

• Habitual present: When we’re in the cabin, we store each sleeping bag…

If the speaker were clearly telling a story about something that already happened, context would push you to understand it as past. Spanish relies on wider context for this, not only on the single sentence.

Why do we say en la cabaña and not just en cabaña?

Spanish usually needs a definite article (el, la, los, las) or some determiner before a singular countable noun.

• En la cabaña – In the cabin (a specific cabin)
• En una cabaña – In a cabin (some cabin, not specified)

Using en cabaña without any article is generally incorrect here. Unlike English, Spanish doesn’t normally drop the article in this kind of location phrase.

So:

• ✅ En la cabaña guardamos…
• ❌ En cabaña guardamos…

Why is cabaña feminine? Is it just because it ends in -a?

Most nouns ending in -a are feminine, and cabaña follows that pattern:

• la cabaña – the cabin
• una cabaña – a cabin
• esta cabaña – this cabin

There are exceptions like el día, el mapa, but cabaña is regular. Its gender is grammatical; it doesn’t have a “reason” beyond convention, but the -a ending is a strong hint that it is feminine.

Why cada saco de dormir and not todos los sacos de dormir? What’s the difference?

Both are grammatically correct, but they focus differently:

• cada saco de dormir – each sleeping bag, one by one
  Emphasizes individual items:

  • You are thinking of them separately: each bag has a place near the door.

• todos los sacos de dormir – all the sleeping bags
  Emphasizes the group as a whole:

  • They’re all stored there, but the idea of “one by one” is weaker.

So:

• guardamos cada saco de dormir cerca de la puerta
  Suggests a specific place/spot for each bag.
• guardamos todos los sacos de dormir cerca de la puerta
  Just says the entire group is kept near the door.

Why saco de dormir and not saco para dormir for “sleeping bag”?

In Spanish, “NOUN + de + NOUN” often indicates type, function, or what something is for:

• saco de dormir – a bag for sleeping
• gafas de sol – sunglasses (glasses for the sun)
• zapatos de correr – running shoes

So saco de dormir is the standard term for sleeping bag.

You can technically say saco para dormir, and people will understand, but it sounds more descriptive/temporary, like “a bag so you can sleep in it,” not the fixed name of the object. The usual lexical item is saco de dormir (or bolsa de dormir in some Latin American countries).

Why is it cerca de la puerta and not cerca a la puerta or just cerca la puerta?

The normal pattern is:

cerca de + noun

Examples:

• cerca de la puerta – near the door
• cerca del río – near the river
• cerca de mi casa – near my house

So:

• ✅ cerca de la puerta
• ❌ cerca a la puerta (this sounds wrong in standard Spanish)
• ❌ cerca la puerta (you can’t drop de here)

Some regional varieties might accept cerca a, but cerca de is the safe, standard choice.

Why do we use para salir temprano and not por salir temprano?

para + infinitive usually expresses purpose / goal:

• guardamos… para salir temprano
  – we store them … in order to leave early

por + infinitive usually expresses cause / reason:

• Nos regañaron por salir tarde.
  – They scolded us for leaving late (because we left late).

Here we’re talking about why we store the sleeping bags in that place (the goal: leaving early). That’s a purpose, so Spanish uses para, not por:

• ✅ …guardamos… cerca de la puerta para salir temprano…
• ❌ …por salir temprano… (this would sound like “because we leave early,” which doesn’t fit the idea of purpose).

Why is salir in the infinitive? Why not para salimos temprano?

After para, when you mean “in order to do X”, Spanish uses the infinitive, not a conjugated verb:

• para salir temprano – in order to leave early
• para comer – in order to eat
• para descansar – in order to rest

So:

• ✅ para salir temprano
• ❌ para salimos temprano

If you conjugate the verb (like salimos), para would not fit and the structure would be different:

• Guardamos los sacos; salimos temprano. – full new clause
• But para
  • salimos is ungrammatical.

Why do we say salir temprano a hacer senderismo instead of just salir temprano hacer senderismo or salir temprano para hacer senderismo?

There are two structures here, both natural in Spanish:

1. salir temprano a hacer senderismo

   • salir a + infinitive often means to go (out) to do something:
     • salir a correr – go out to run
     • salir a cenar – go out to have dinner
     • salir a pasear – go out for a walk
   • So salir a hacer senderismo = go (out) to hike.

2. You could also say:
   salir temprano para hacer senderismo

   • This focuses more on purpose (we leave early in order to go hiking).
   • It’s correct and understandable.

What sounds odd is dropping the a:

• ❌ salir temprano hacer senderismo – We normally need a linking preposition (a or para) before the second verb in this structure.

So the original salir temprano a hacer senderismo uses a very common pattern: salir a + infinitive.

Is hacer senderismo the only way to say “to go hiking”? Can I say ir a senderismo?

Hacer senderismo is the standard, natural expression for to go hiking:

• Nos gusta hacer senderismo. – We like hiking.

You cannot say ir a senderismo in normal Spanish; that sounds wrong because senderismo is an activity noun that doesn’t combine with ir a like that.

Other natural alternatives (depending on country/region) include:

• ir de excursión – to go on a hike / outing
• hacer caminatas – to go on (long) walks/hikes
• ir a caminar por la montaña – to go walk in the mountains

But for the idea of “hiking” as an outdoor activity, hacer senderismo is very common and safe.

Where can I put temprano? Could I say para salir a hacer senderismo temprano instead? Does it change the meaning?

You have a few options, all grammatical, with small nuances:

1. para salir temprano a hacer senderismo

   • Focus on leaving early: the departure is early.
   • Implies you’ll go hiking after leaving.

2. para salir a hacer senderismo temprano

   • Now temprano is closer to hacer senderismo, so it can be understood as:
     • leave in order to go hiking early (the hiking itself is early).
   • In practice, context often blurs this difference, but placement does shift the emphasis.

3. para salir a hacer senderismo muy temprano

   • Emphasizes that the hiking happens very early.

All are possible, but the original para salir temprano a hacer senderismo most clearly highlights the early departure as the reason for storing the bags near the door.

Can the word order be Guardamos cada saco de dormir cerca de la puerta en la cabaña…? Does moving en la cabaña change the meaning?

Yes, Spanish word order is fairly flexible:

• En la cabaña guardamos cada saco de dormir…
• Guardamos cada saco de dormir en la cabaña cerca de la puerta…
• Guardamos en la cabaña cada saco de dormir cerca de la puerta…

All are grammatical and mean basically the same thing: In the cabin, we store each sleeping bag near the door…

The differences are about emphasis and flow:

• Starting with En la cabaña… sets the scene first.
• Putting en la cabaña later gives a more neutral, English-like order.

Meaning doesn’t really change; it’s more about style and what information you want to foreground.