Todavía no conozco esa montaña, pero quiero subirla pronto.

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Breakdown of Todavía no conozco esa montaña, pero quiero subirla pronto.

• querer: to want
• pero: but
• esa: that
• la montaña: the mountain
• todavía: still
• conocer: to know
• subir: to climb
• pronto: soon

Questions & Answers about Todavía no conozco esa montaña, pero quiero subirla pronto.

Why do we say conozco instead of sé in Todavía no conozco esa montaña?

In Spanish, conocer means "to be acquainted with" or "to have personal experience of" something. On the other hand, saber refers to "knowing a fact" or "being aware of information." Here, you're talking about familiarity with a mountain (visiting or experiencing it), hence conocer is appropriate.

Why is the sentence structured as Todavía no conozco esa montaña instead of No conozco todavía esa montaña?

The word todavía (meaning "still" or "yet") often appears before or after no at the beginning of a sentence. You could say No conozco todavía esa montaña, but most Spanish speakers would place todavía early for emphasis. Both are grammatically correct, but Todavía no... is a common structure to highlight that "you still haven’t" done something.

What is the role of la in subirla?

In subirla, the -la is a direct object pronoun that replaces esa montaña. In English, it’s like saying "I want to climb it." Since montaña is feminine, we use la. If it were a masculine noun, we’d use lo.

Is there any difference between using esa and aquella when referring to the mountain?

Both esa and aquella mean "that," but esa refers to something relatively closer (to the listener or in context), while aquella indicates something farther away. If the mountain is considered quite far or slightly more distant (geographically or in some conceptual sense), you might use aquella. Otherwise, esa is fine for something not too far away.

Can I say me gustaría subirla pronto instead of quiero subirla pronto? Do they mean the same thing?

Quiero is more direct and expresses a clear desire ("I want to"). Me gustaría is more polite or less forceful, translating roughly to "I would like to." They convey a similar idea, but quiero sounds stronger or more determined, while me gustaría is slightly more tentative or polite.