Elegimos el camino contrario.

Elegimos is the first-person plural form of elegir, meaning we choose or we chose.

A very important point: elegimos can mean both:

• we choose (present tense)
• we chose (preterite / simple past)

So this form is ambiguous on its own. Usually, the wider context tells you which meaning is intended.

Examples:

• Cada vez elegimos el camino contrario. = Each time we choose the opposite path.
• Ayer elegimos el camino contrario. = Yesterday we chose the opposite path.

Because elegir is a stem-changing verb in the present tense, but the stem change does not happen in the nosotros and vosotros forms.

Present tense of elegir:

• elijo
• eliges
• elige
• elegimos
• elegís
• eligen

So in nosotros, it stays elegimos, not eligimos.

This is a very common pattern with stem-changing verbs in Spanish:

• preferir → prefiero, but preferimos
• pedir → pido, but pedimos

El is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• el camino = the path / the road / the way

Spanish uses articles very naturally, and in this sentence you need el because you are talking about a specific path.

Also, camino is a masculine singular noun, so the article must be el.

In Spanish, most adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• el camino contrario = the opposite path

That is the normal order:

• noun + adjective

You can sometimes move adjectives before the noun, but that often changes the tone or emphasis. Here, camino contrario is the most natural and standard phrasing.

Here, contrario means opposite, contrary, or the other way round, depending on context.

So el camino contrario could mean:

• the opposite path
• the contrary route
• the other direction

It agrees with camino, which is masculine singular, so we get:

• contrario for masculine singular
• contraria for feminine singular
• contrarios / contrarias for plural

Examples:

• la decisión contraria = the opposite decision
• los caminos contrarios = the opposite paths

Yes, absolutely. El camino opuesto is also correct and often sounds very natural.

Both can mean the opposite path:

• el camino contrario
• el camino opuesto

In many contexts, they are very close in meaning. Sometimes opuesto feels a little more literally spatial, while contrario can also sound more abstract, but in everyday use they often overlap.

Because elegir normally takes a direct object directly.

So:

• Elegimos el camino contrario.
• literally: We chose the opposite path.

No preposition is needed before el camino contrario.

Compare:

• Elegimos una opción.
• Elegimos la ruta más corta.

You only get an a in special cases, such as the personal a before a specific person:

• Elegimos a Marta como líder.

But with things like camino, there is no a:

• Elegimos el camino contrario.

Not always. Camino is a flexible word.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• path
• road
• way
• route

So Elegimos el camino contrario could be translated in different ways:

• We chose the opposite path.
• We chose the other way.
• We took the opposite route.

The best translation depends on the situation.

In standard Spain Spanish, it would be pronounced approximately like:

eh-leh-HEE-mos el kah-MEE-no kon-TRAH-ryo

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• g before i in elegimos sounds like the strong Spanish j sound.
• ll is usually pronounced like y in most of Spain today.
• The stress is on:
  • -gi- in elegimos
  • -mi- in camino
  • -tra- in contrario

Yes. As a standalone sentence, Elegimos el camino contrario can mean either:

• We choose the opposite path
• We chose the opposite path

This happens because the nosotros form of some verbs looks the same in the present and preterite.

You usually know from:

• time words: ayer, siempre, ahora, etc.
• the surrounding sentences
• the overall context

Examples:

• Siempre elegimos el camino contrario. = We always choose the opposite path.
• Ayer elegimos el camino contrario. = We chose the opposite path yesterday.

Yes, that is correct, but usually nosotros is omitted because the verb already tells you who the subject is.

So the normal sentence is:

• Elegimos el camino contrario.

If you include nosotros, it usually adds emphasis or contrast:

• Nosotros elegimos el camino contrario, no ellos. = We chose the opposite path, not them.

Spanish often leaves subject pronouns out unless they are needed for clarity or emphasis.