Mi abuelo pierde una ficha de ajedrez en el parque.

My grandfather loses a chess piece in the park.

Breakdown of Mi abuelo pierde una ficha de ajedrez en el parque.

• en: in
• mi: my
• el parque: the park
• el abuelo: the grandfather
• una: a
• perder: to lose
• la ficha de ajedrez: the chess piece

Questions & Answers about Mi abuelo pierde una ficha de ajedrez en el parque.

What is the form and tense of pierde, and what is the infinitive of this verb?

Pierde is the third person singular (he/she/it) form of the verb perder in the simple present tense.

• Infinitive: perder (to lose)
• Stem: perd-, but it is a stem‑changing verb: e → ie in most present‑tense forms.

Present of perder (indicative):

• yo pierdo
• tú pierdes
• él / ella / usted pierde
• nosotros / nosotras perdemos (no stem‑change)
• ustedes / ellos / ellas pierden

So mi abuelo pierde = my grandfather loses / my grandfather is losing, depending on context.

Why is pierde (present tense) used instead of a past tense like perdió?

In Spanish, the simple present often describes:

1. Habitual actions:

   • Mi abuelo pierde una ficha de ajedrez en el parque.
     = My grandfather (tends to) lose a chess piece in the park (whenever he plays there).

2. Narrative or “live” description (like telling a story as if it’s happening now).

If you wanted a one‑time, completed past action, you’d normally use the preterite:

• Mi abuelo perdió una ficha de ajedrez en el parque.
  = My grandfather lost a chess piece in the park (on that occasion).

So pierde is correct if the context is habitual or present narrative; perdió fits a completed past event.

How do I say “My grandfather is losing a chess piece in the park”? Is pierde enough?

Yes, in many contexts pierde can mean both:

• Mi abuelo pierde una ficha de ajedrez en el parque.
  = My grandfather loses a chess piece in the park
  or, with the right context,
  = My grandfather is losing a chess piece in the park.

Spanish simple present often covers both “loses” and “is losing”.

If you really want to stress the action right now, you can use the present progressive:

• Mi abuelo está perdiendo una ficha de ajedrez en el parque.
  = My grandfather is (in the process of) losing a chess piece in the park.

Both are grammatical; the progressive just puts more emphasis on the ongoing nature of the action.

Why is there no word for “is” in the Spanish sentence?

English often needs the auxiliary verb “to be” for progressives (is losing), but Spanish doesn’t for the basic present:

• English: He loses / He is losing
• Spanish: Él pierde (covers both, depending on context)

You only add estar for the progressive when you want to highlight the ongoing process:

• Él está perdiendo una ficha. = He is losing a piece (right now).

So in Mi abuelo pierde una ficha de ajedrez en el parque, the “is” idea is already built into the tense and doesn’t need a separate word.

Why don’t we say él (he) before pierde? Why is it just Mi abuelo pierde…?

Spanish normally omits subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

• Mi abuelo pierde…
  Here, pierde already tells us it’s he/she/it. Adding él is usually unnecessary unless you want to emphasize he as opposed to someone else.

You could say:

• Él pierde una ficha de ajedrez en el parque.
  but that would normally be used to emphasize he (not someone else) loses a chess piece.

In this sentence, Mi abuelo already functions as the clear subject, so él isn’t needed.

What does mi mean exactly, and how does it change?

Mi is a possessive adjective meaning “my”. It agrees only in number, not in gender:

• mi abuelo = my grandfather
• mi abuela = my grandmother
• mis abuelos = my grandparents (plural)
• mis fichas = my pieces

So:

• Singular noun → mi
• Plural noun → mis

Why is it una ficha de ajedrez and not la ficha de ajedrez?

The article shows whether the speaker is talking about a specific known item or an unspecified one:

• una ficha de ajedrez = a chess piece (any piece; not specified which one)
• la ficha de ajedrez = the chess piece (a specific one the speakers already have in mind)

In Mi abuelo pierde una ficha de ajedrez en el parque, the idea is just “a piece (one of the pieces)”, not a particular one already identified in the conversation.

Why do we say ficha de ajedrez? Could we also say pieza de ajedrez?

Both are understandable, but there is a nuance:

• ficha = a game token / counter / chip in general (for board games, checkers, tokens, etc.)
• pieza = a piece, and is very standard for chess pieces.

In many places, especially in Latin America, you might hear both, but pieza de ajedrez is very common and often sounds more “properly chess‑specific.”

So you can say:

• Mi abuelo pierde una pieza de ajedrez en el parque.
  or
• Mi abuelo pierde una ficha de ajedrez en el parque.

Both are correct; pieza is usually the more textbook term for chess pieces.

What does the de in ficha de ajedrez mean? Why not another preposition?

The preposition de often expresses:

• type / kind of thing
• what something belongs to or is associated with

So ficha de ajedrez literally is “chess piece” in the sense of “piece of (the game) chess”.

Other prepositions wouldn’t fit:

• ficha para ajedrez = a piece for chess (sounds more like a piece intended to be used for chess, but not the standard way to name it)
• ficha en ajedrez doesn’t mean “chess piece” at all.

So de is the normal way to connect ficha and ajedrez here.

Why is it en el parque and not al parque?

En and a express different ideas:

• en el parque = in the park / at the park (location)
• al parque = to the park (movement / destination; from a + el → al)

In the sentence, your grandfather is losing a piece while he is at that place, so it’s a location:

• Mi abuelo pierde una ficha de ajedrez en el parque.
  = My grandfather loses a chess piece in the park.

If you were talking about going to the park, you’d use al:

• Mi abuelo va al parque.
  = My grandfather goes to the park.

Why is it el parque and not un parque?

Again, it’s about definite vs indefinite:

• el parque = the park (a specific park that the speakers have in mind, or the usual park everyone knows)
• un parque = a park (any park; not specified which one)

So:

• Mi abuelo pierde una ficha de ajedrez en el parque.
  suggests a particular or familiar park.
• Mi abuelo pierde una ficha de ajedrez en un parque.
  feels like in some park or other, not necessarily known or important which.

Can the word order change? For example: En el parque, mi abuelo pierde una ficha de ajedrez?

Yes. Spanish word order is fairly flexible as long as it stays clear. All of these are grammatical, with small changes in emphasis:

• Mi abuelo pierde una ficha de ajedrez en el parque.
  (neutral / normal order: subject → verb → object → place)

• En el parque, mi abuelo pierde una ficha de ajedrez.
  (emphasizes the location first: “In the park, my grandfather loses…”)

• Una ficha de ajedrez pierde mi abuelo en el parque.
  (puts focus on “a chess piece”, more stylistic or poetic; less common in everyday speech.)

The original order is the most typical, but fronting En el parque is very natural and common.

Could I also say A mi abuelo se le pierde una ficha de ajedrez en el parque? How is that different?

Yes, you can, and it sounds quite natural in Spanish. The meaning is close, but the focus and tone change:

• Mi abuelo pierde una ficha de ajedrez en el parque.
  = straightforward: My grandfather loses a chess piece in the park.
  (He is the subject and doer of the action.)

• A mi abuelo se le pierde una ficha de ajedrez en el parque.
  = literally “To my grandfather, a chess piece gets lost on him in the park.”
  This structure:

  • Uses se le pierde to give a sense of something unfortunate happening to him, slightly less direct blame on him.
  • Often feels more like an accidental / unintentional loss.

So the second version can sound more like: My poor grandfather ends up losing a chess piece in the park or a piece goes missing on him in the park. Both are grammatically correct; they just frame the event differently.