Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Un adulto empuja el columpio con cuidado para que la niña no tenga miedo. - An adult pushes the swing carefully so that the girl is not afraid.

Un adulto is used:
- when the adult’s gender is unknown or not important,
- or when you’re speaking generically (“an adult”) without specifying man/woman.
Una adulta is used only when you know and want to emphasize that the adult is female.

So in this sentence, un adulto just means “an adult person” without focusing on gender. If you wanted to make it clear it’s a woman, you could say:

Una adulta empuja el columpio…
Una persona adulta empuja el columpio… (gender-neutral but a bit more formal/wordy)

Why is it empuja and not está empujando?

Both are possible, but they’re not used in exactly the same way.

Un adulto empuja el columpio…
- Simple present.
- In Spanish, the simple present is often used for actions happening right now, especially in narration, descriptions, or picture captions.
- Very natural in this kind of descriptive sentence.
Un adulto está empujando el columpio…
- Present progressive.
- Emphasizes the ongoing, in-progress nature of the action at this exact moment.
- Also correct, but feels more like you’re describing what you’re watching right now.

In many contexts where English must use “is pushing”, Spanish is perfectly happy with empuja.

Why is it el columpio and not un columpio?

Both el columpio and un columpio are grammatically correct.

El columpio (“the swing”) suggests:
- a specific swing that’s already known in the context (maybe the only swing there),
- or just the swing the girl is on.
Un columpio (“a swing”) would sound more like you’re introducing it as something new or not specific.

In many real-life contexts, if you’re describing a scene with a child on a swing, el columpio feels more natural: everyone understands it’s that swing, the one she’s on.

Why is it con cuidado instead of cuidadosamente?

Spanish often prefers con + noun instead of an -mente adverb:

con cuidado = “carefully”
cuidadosamente = also “carefully”

Both are correct, but:

con cuidado is more common in everyday speech and neutral writing.
cuidadosamente can sound a bit more formal, written, or literary in many contexts.

You could say:

Un adulto empuja el columpio con cuidado. ✅ (very natural)
Un adulto empuja el columpio cuidadosamente. ✅ (correct, but a bit more formal)

What does para que do here, and why isn’t it just para?

Para and para que work differently:

para + infinitive when the subject is the same in both parts:
- Empuja el columpio para proteger a la niña.
  “He/She pushes the swing in order to protect the girl.”
  (The adult is the one who protects.)
para que + [different subject] when the subject changes:
- …para que la niña no tenga miedo.
  “so that the girl does not get scared.”
  (The adult acts, but the girl is the one who might be afraid.)

Here, the adult is the one pushing, and the girl is the one who might be afraid, so you need para que + a clause with its own subject (la niña).

Why is it no tenga miedo and not no tiene miedo?

Tenga is the present subjunctive of tener, and it’s required here because of para que expressing purpose or intention:

…para que la niña no tenga miedo.
= “so that the girl won’t be afraid,”
“in order for the girl not to be afraid.”

This is not stating a fact; it’s expressing the goal of pushing the swing gently. Spanish uses the subjunctive for that.

Compare:

La niña no tiene miedo.
= “The girl is not afraid.” (a factual statement; indicative tiene)
Empuja el columpio para que la niña no tenga miedo.
= “He/She pushes the swing so the girl won’t be afraid.” (purpose; subjunctive tenga)

Can you explain why tenga is subjunctive here?

Yes. Tenga is the present subjunctive form of tener for ella / la niña.

Present subjunctive of tener:

yo tenga
tú tengas
él/ella/usted tenga
nosotros tengamos
ustedes/ellos tengan

After para que, when you express a purpose, desired outcome, or intention (not a certain, factual event), Spanish grammar requires the subjunctive:

para que la niña no tenga miedo
para que la niña se divierta (so that the girl has fun)
para que ella esté tranquila (so that she is calm)

So tenga is chosen because of the structure para que + subjunctive.

Why is it tener miedo and not something like estar miedo?

In Spanish, “to be afraid” is usually expressed as tener miedo (“to have fear”), not with ser or estar:

tener miedo = “to be afraid / to be scared”
estar miedo ❌ (incorrect)

Examples:

La niña tiene miedo. = “The girl is afraid.”
No quiero tener miedo. = “I don’t want to be afraid.”

There are other ways to express a similar idea:

estar asustada = “to be scared”
- La niña está asustada.
asustarse = “to get scared”
- La niña se asusta.

But with miedo, the standard pattern is tener miedo.

Why do we need la in la niña? Could it be para que niña no tenga miedo?

In this sentence, you must use the article:

para que la niña no tenga miedo ✅
para que niña no tenga miedo ❌ (incorrect)

In Spanish, singular countable nouns (like niña, libro, perro) almost always need an article (la, una, etc.) unless they’re in certain special patterns (e.g. “soy niña”, job titles, some set expressions).

Here, we are talking about a specific girl, so la niña = “the girl.” Dropping la sounds ungrammatical.

If you wanted to speak generally about girls (not one specific girl), you might say:

para que las niñas no tengan miedo = “so that (all) girls are not afraid.”

What’s the difference between niña and chica in Latin America?

Both can mean “girl,” but they differ mainly by age (and sometimes region):

niña
- Usually a child, pre-adolescent.
- Very common and neutral.
- In many contexts, you imagine a small child when you hear niña.
chica
- Often an older girl, teenager, or young woman, depending on the country.
- In some places it’s used for any young woman (like “girl” in informal English).

In this sentence, la niña makes you picture a child on a swing.
La chica would sound like she’s older (maybe a teenager or young adult), which doesn’t fit as naturally with being pushed on a playground swing (though it’s not grammatically wrong).

How do we know that columpio is masculine (el columpio)?

You mostly have to learn the gender of each noun, but there are patterns:

Nouns ending in -o are usually masculine:
- el columpio
- el libro
- el perro

So columpio follows the regular pattern: masculine → el columpio.

Note: regionally in Latin America, vocabulary for “swing” can vary:

columpio is widely understood,
hamaca usually means “hammock,” but in some places people also use it for certain kinds of swings.
In this sentence, columpio is the standard, clear word for a children’s swing.

Could you say para que la niña no se asuste instead of no tenga miedo? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say both, but they focus on slightly different things:

…para que la niña no tenga miedo.
- Focus on the state of being afraid.
- Literally “so that the girl does not have fear / is not afraid.”
…para que la niña no se asuste.
- Focus on the moment of getting scared, the reaction.
- “so that the girl doesn’t get scared / doesn’t get a fright.”

Both are natural. The original version talks more about keeping her unafraid in general, not just preventing one sudden scare.

Could it be para que ella no tenga miedo instead of para que la niña no tenga miedo?

Yes, that’s possible:

Un adulto empuja el columpio con cuidado para que ella no tenga miedo.

This works if ella clearly refers to someone already mentioned, usually the girl. The difference:

la niña
- Explicit noun.
- Clear even with no prior context (like in a picture description).
- Slightly more descriptive and natural if it’s the first time you refer to her.
ella
- Pronoun, used when the listener already knows who “she” is.
- Feels more natural after you’ve already mentioned la niña once.

If this sentence appears alone with no previous context, la niña is usually better because it immediately tells you who it is.