Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): En la azotea sembramos semillas de tomate en tierra fresca. - On the rooftop we plant tomato seeds in fresh soil.

An azotea is the flat rooftop of a building—literally the roof surface you can walk on. A terraza is any outdoor terrace or patio (it can be at ground level, on a balcony, or even on a roof). If you’re referring specifically to the building’s roof itself, you use azotea; terraza is more general for outdoor spaces.

Why do we say en la azotea? Could we say sobre la azotea or drop the article?

Spanish uses en to mean “in” or “on,” and you normally include the definite article before a singular location noun, so en la azotea is standard (“on the rooftop”). Saying sobre la azotea would imply “above the rooftop,” which isn’t what you want. You cannot drop la here—Spanish doesn’t allow dropping the definite article with most concrete locations.

Why is there no article before tierra fresca? Shouldn’t it be en la tierra fresca?

When you speak generally about an uncountable substance (like soil), Spanish often omits the article. En tierra fresca means “in fresh soil” in a general sense. If you were referring to a specific patch of soil you already mentioned, you could say en la tierra fresca, but it’s not needed for a general statement.

Is sembramos present tense or past tense? How can I tell? Also, what’s the difference between sembrar and plantar?

Sembramos is ambiguous: it can be present indicative (“we sow”) or preterite past (“we sowed”). Context or time markers decide the meaning; here, without any past-time words, it’s likely present (“we sow”).
Sembrar means “to sow seeds,” while plantar means “to plant” seedlings or young plants.

Why do we say semillas de tomate with tomate in the singular? Could it be semillas de tomates?

After de to express type or category, Spanish uses the singular noun: semillas de tomate = “tomato seeds” in general. You could say semillas de tomates if you emphasize seeds taken from specific individual tomatoes, but for the general product you keep tomate singular.

Why is tierra feminine, and why does the adjective fresca come after the noun?

In Spanish every noun has a gender; tierra is feminine, so the adjective must agree in gender and number: fresca (feminine singular). Spanish adjectives typically follow the noun when they’re giving descriptive, non‐emphatic information.

Could we use cultivar instead of sembrar in this sentence?

You could say cultivamos tomates en la azotea, but cultivar refers to the whole growing process (sowing, caring for, and harvesting). Sembrar is specifically the act of sowing seeds into the soil.

Why don’t we include the subject pronoun nosotros before sembramos?

Spanish verbs are conjugated for each person, so the subject is clear from the verb form. This pro-drop feature means nosotros is unnecessary unless you want to emphasize “we” (e.g., Nosotros sembramos, pero ellos riegan).