¿Por qué intentas descubrir nuevos lugares en el bosque?

Why do you try to discover new places in the forest?

Breakdown of ¿Por qué intentas descubrir nuevos lugares en el bosque?

• en: in
• nuevo: new
• el: the
• el lugar: the place
• por qué: why
• intentar: to try
• descubrir: to discover
• el bosque: the forest

Questions & Answers about ¿Por qué intentas descubrir nuevos lugares en el bosque?

Why is it "¿Por qué intentas..." instead of "¿Para qué intentas..."?

"¿Por qué?" literally means "Why?", asking for the cause or reason behind the action. In contrast, "¿Para qué?" means "For what purpose?", focusing on the intended goal. If you want to say "For what purpose do you try to discover new places...", you would use "¿Para qué intentas descubrir...?". In this sentence, you are asking about the motivation or cause, hence "¿Por qué intentas...?".

How do I know that "intentas" is the correct form of "intentar"?

The verb intentar conjugates in the present tense as: • (yo) intento – I try
• (tú) intentas – You try
• (él/ella) intenta – He/She tries
• … and so on.
Because the sentence is addressed to tú (you, singular informal), "intentas" fits perfectly.

Why is "descubrir" in the infinitive form after "intentas"?

In Spanish, when one verb follows another (e.g., intentar, meaning "to try"), the second verb generally stays in the infinitive. So after intentas, you keep descubrir as "to discover".

Could I say "¿Por qué intentas a descubrir...?" instead?

No. In Spanish, you do not add a preposition like "a" before the infinitive when using intentar. The correct structure is intentar + [infinitive], so "¿Por qué intentas descubrir...?" is correct, while "¿Por qué intentas a descubrir...?" would be incorrect.

Why is "en" used in "en el bosque" instead of "a" or "por"?

"En el bosque" means "in the forest" or "inside the forest." If you used "a", it would imply "to the forest" (direction or destination). If you used "por", it might suggest "through the forest" (movement within the area). Since the sentence emphasizes discovering places inside the forest, "en" is the most accurate preposition.