Mi madre intenta usar mi móvil, pero a veces duda de cómo funciona la pantalla.

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Breakdown of Mi madre intenta usar mi móvil, pero a veces duda de cómo funciona la pantalla.

• mi: my
• pero: but
• usar: to use
• de: of
• la vez: the time
• intentar: to try
• funcionar: to work
• el móvil: the mobile phone
• la madre: the mother
• dudar: to doubt
• cómo: how
• la pantalla: the screen

Questions & Answers about Mi madre intenta usar mi móvil, pero a veces duda de cómo funciona la pantalla.

Why is intenta followed directly by usar instead of using a preposition in between?

In Spanish, intentar (to try) is normally followed directly by the infinitive of another verb without a preposition. So you say intentar usar rather than intentar de usar or intentar a usar.

What is the difference between saying duda and duda de?

The verb dudar often appears as dudar de + something when expressing uncertainty or mistrust about that thing. Although you can sometimes leave out de, using dudar de specifically highlights the object of the doubt.

Why do we say funciona instead of any other verb for the screen?

In Spanish, funcionar is frequently used for devices or objects when talking about how they work or operate. It means to function or to work, so it makes sense to say cómo funciona la pantalla to indicate how the screen works.

What does móvil mean in this context?

In Spain, móvil is the most common word for cell phone or mobile phone. In many Latin American countries, celular is used instead.

Why don’t we use the article before mi madre?

When using possessive adjectives in Spanish (like mi, tu, su), the article (el, la, etc.) is not needed before nouns that belong to someone. So you say mi madre rather than la mi madre.