Vaciar el armario cada mes me ayuda a mantener mi ropa ordenada.

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Breakdown of Vaciar el armario cada mes me ayuda a mantener mi ropa ordenada.

• me: me
• ayudar: to help
• cada: each
• mantener: to keep
• ordenado: tidy
• el armario: the closet
• el mes: the month
• la ropa: the clothes

Questions & Answers about Vaciar el armario cada mes me ayuda a mantener mi ropa ordenada.

Why is the verb vaciar used in the infinitive form here instead of something like vacío?

In Spanish, when a sentence starts with an action as the subject (like “Vaciar el armario cada mes”), that action appears as an infinitive. It functions similarly to using a gerund in English (e.g., “Emptying the closet every month helps me…”). Essentially, the infinitive here acts as a noun representing the action of emptying the closet.

What does the construction me ayuda a imply, and does it always need an infinitive after a?

The phrase me ayuda a means “it helps me to…” in English. In Spanish, ayudar a is commonly followed by an infinitive to describe the specific action someone is being helped to do. So yes, after ayudar a, you typically see an infinitive, like mantener in this sentence.

Why do we use mantener instead of mantenerse here?

In this context, mantener means “to keep/maintain something.” Here, you are keeping your clothes neat, so you use the transitive form of the verb (mantener + direct object). If the sentence were about staying in a certain condition yourself, you would use the reflexive mantenerse, as in mantenerse sano (“to stay healthy”).

Does mi ropa have to be used instead of la ropa?

It’s more natural to say mi ropa when you’re emphasizing that it’s your own clothing. However, la ropa could also be used if you’re talking about clothes in a more general sense. In this sentence, using mi ropa personalizes it and clarifies whose clothes are being kept in order.

Why is ordenada in the feminine form?

Ordenada modifies ropa, which is a feminine noun (la ropa). Adjectives in Spanish typically agree in gender and number with the noun they describe, so ordenada is the feminine singular form of the adjective.

Can I say “Empty the closet every month helps me…” in English the same way?

It wouldn’t sound quite right in English. You’d normally say something like “Emptying the closet every month helps me keep my clothes organized.” In Spanish, using the infinitive at the start of the sentence is perfectly natural for expressing that idea. In English, you generally use a gerund (-ing) form to achieve the same effect.