Breakdown of Mi hermano prefiere hacer ejercicio con una banda de resistencia en casa.
Questions & Answers about Mi hermano prefiere hacer ejercicio con una banda de resistencia en casa.
In Spanish, when you talk about liking or preferring an activity, it’s very common to use an infinitive verb:
- prefiere hacer ejercicio = “he prefers to exercise / to work out”
Here “hacer” is the infinitive “to do/make,” and “hacer ejercicio” is treated as a chunk meaning “to work out / to exercise.” The infinitive phrase “hacer ejercicio” acts as the direct object of “prefiere.”
If you said:
- prefiere ejercicio – this sounds like “he prefers exercise (in general)” but is unnatural here; Spanish normally uses a verb phrase for this idea.
- prefiere ejercicios – sounds like “he prefers (specific) exercises,” e.g., exercise number 3 instead of exercise number 1, in a workout plan or a school workbook.
For the general idea of working out, “hacer ejercicio” is the natural, idiomatic way to say it.
They’re related but used differently:
hacer ejercicio
- Most common everyday way to say “to work out / to exercise”.
- Neutral and widely used in Latin America.
- Example: Su papá hace ejercicio todos los días. – “His dad works out every day.”
ejercitar (non‑reflexive)
- Means “to exercise something”, usually a body part, a skill, a right, etc.
- Example: Debes ejercitar los músculos de las piernas. – “You should exercise the muscles in your legs.”
- Also: ejercitar un derecho – “to exercise a right.”
ejercitarse (reflexive)
- Means “to exercise (oneself), to train (oneself)”.
- Sounds a bit more formal or technical than “hacer ejercicio” in many contexts.
- Example: Los atletas se ejercitan antes de la competencia. – “The athletes exercise/train before the competition.”
In everyday speech about normal workouts, “hacer ejercicio” is usually the best choice.
The subject is “mi hermano” (my brother), which is third person singular. The verb is preferir (“to prefer”), which is a stem‑changing verb in the present tense: e → ie in stressed syllables.
Present indicative of preferir:
- yo prefiero – I prefer
- tú prefieres – you prefer (informal)
- él / ella / usted prefiere – he / she prefers; you (formal) prefer
- nosotros / nosotras preferimos – we prefer (no stem change)
- ustedes prefieren – you (plural) prefer
- ellos / ellas prefieren – they prefer
So with mi hermano, you must use prefiere:
- Mi hermano prefiere hacer ejercicio… – “My brother prefers to exercise…”
Yes, you can say it, but there’s a nuance:
Mi hermano prefiere hacer ejercicio…
- Uses preferir = “to prefer.”
- More direct, slightly stronger: he chooses one option over another.
A mi hermano le gusta más hacer ejercicio…
- Uses gustar with más = “likes more.”
- Literally: “Exercise pleases my brother more.”
- Emphasizes enjoyment, “he likes doing this more than something else.”
In many everyday contexts, they can be used almost interchangeably, but “prefiere” sounds a bit more straightforwardly about preference or choice, while “le gusta más” leans toward what he enjoys more.
In Spanish, singular, countable objects usually need an article (a “a/an/the” equivalent).
- una banda de resistencia = “a resistance band” (one band, not previously specified)
Saying:
- con banda de resistencia (without article) sounds incomplete or ungrammatical in standard Spanish in this context, because “banda” here is a countable noun (one individual object).
You would only drop the article in some special fixed phrases or when the noun is used more abstractly, which is not the case here.
“banda de resistencia” literally means “resistance band,” the elastic band used for strength training or physical therapy.
Other common terms in Latin America include:
- banda elástica – elastic band
- liga / liga de resistencia – often used in Mexico and some other countries
- banda para ejercicio – exercise band
All of these can refer to what English speakers call a resistance band.
“Banda de resistencia” and “banda elástica” are very clear and widely understandable.
Spanish makes a distinction:
- en casa = “at home” (general, your home, in the home context)
- en la casa = “in the house” (a specific house as a physical place)
In your sentence:
- …en casa. = “at home,” meaning he prefers to work out at home rather than at the gym or elsewhere.
If you said:
- …en la casa.
you’d be pointing more to a specific building (“in the house”), which is possible but has a slightly different feel. For the everyday sense of “at home,” Spanish normally drops the article: en casa.
Yes, you can change the order:
- Mi hermano prefiere hacer ejercicio con una banda de resistencia en casa.
- Mi hermano prefiere hacer ejercicio en casa con una banda de resistencia.
Both are grammatically correct. The differences are minor and mostly about rhythm and emphasis:
- Putting “en casa” at the end (as in the original) slightly highlights where he exercises.
- Putting “con una banda de resistencia” at the end can make the equipment feel a bit more emphasized.
Native speakers freely move phrases like “en casa”, “con una banda de resistencia” around, as long as the meaning stays clear.
Yes. Some natural alternatives:
Mi hermano prefiere hacer ejercicio usando una banda de resistencia en casa.
– “My brother prefers to work out using a resistance band at home.”Mi hermano prefiere hacer ejercicio con una banda de resistencia en casa.
– “My brother prefers to work out with a resistance band at home.”Mi hermano prefiere hacer ejercicio en casa utilizando una banda de resistencia.
“con + instrumento” is the simplest and most common way to express “with (using) a tool.”
“usando / utilizando” makes the “using” idea more explicit but is not required.
Spanish normally omits subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, etc.) because the verb ending already shows the subject:
- prefiere tells us it’s he / she / you-formal.
We only add él for emphasis, contrast, or clarity, for example:
- Él prefiere hacer ejercicio en casa, pero yo prefiero ir al gimnasio.
– He prefers to work out at home, but I prefer to go to the gym.
In your sentence, “Mi hermano” already makes the subject clear, so adding “él” would be redundant and unnatural:
Mi hermano prefiere… is the normal form.
You need to make the subject and, optionally, the object plural:
- Mi hermano prefiere hacer ejercicio con una banda de resistencia en casa.
– My brother prefers…
→
- Mis hermanos prefieren hacer ejercicio con bandas de resistencia en casa.
– My brothers prefer to work out with resistance bands at home.
Changes:
- Mi hermano → Mis hermanos (singular → plural)
- prefiere → prefieren (third person singular → third person plural)
- una banda de resistencia → bandas de resistencia (optional pluralization of the object if you mean they each use bands, or several bands are involved)
You could keep the object singular if you mean they share one band, but making it plural is usually more natural.