Mi primo y yo exploramos la ciudad el fin de semana.

My cousin and I explore the city on the weekend.

Breakdown of Mi primo y yo exploramos la ciudad el fin de semana.

• yo: I
• mi: my
• y: and
• de: of
• el fin: the end
• la semana: the week
• la ciudad: the city
• explorar: to explore
• el primo: the cousin

Questions & Answers about Mi primo y yo exploramos la ciudad el fin de semana.

Why is exploramos used here instead of another tense like exploraron?

In Spanish, exploramos can be both the first-person plural form in the present tense (we explore) and the first-person plural form in the preterite tense (we explored). In this sentence, because there is a time reference (el fin de semana), it indicates a past action, so exploramos is the preterite form meaning we explored.

How do we know that mi primo y yo means we?

When you have mi primo y yo (my cousin and I), you’re effectively saying we in English. In Spanish, the verb must match the subject in number and person. Since it’s two people talking about themselves, it’s first-person plural, which explains why we use exploramos.

Why is there an article la before ciudad?

In Spanish, nouns are usually accompanied by an article, especially when referring to something specific. Here, la ciudad means the city in a specific sense. Spanish generally uses articles more frequently than English, so it's common to see la ciudad rather than just ciudad.

What does el fin de semana literally mean, and why is it used here?

El fin de semana literally means the end of the week, which we translate as the weekend. It’s common in Spanish to say el fin de semana when talking about weekend activities. Notice again that Spanish uses an article (el) where English does not use one in weekend.

Why is primo used and not prima?

Spanish nouns for relatives change form depending on gender. Primo is the masculine form for cousin, and prima is the feminine form. Since we’re referring to a male cousin, primo is used. If you were talking about a female cousin, you would say prima.