Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Quiero anotar la cita en mi agenda. - I want to write down the appointment in my planner.

Appointment (with a doctor, hairdresser, etc.):
- Tengo una cita con el médico. → “I have a doctor’s appointment.”
Romantic date:
- Tenemos una cita esta noche. → “We have a date tonight.”
Quotation / citation (in a text):
- Esa es una cita de Cervantes. → “That is a quote from Cervantes.”

In Quiero anotar la cita en mi agenda, the context is “appointment.” Spanish doesn’t need to add “doctor’s” or “hair” etc. to make it clear; context usually tells you which kind of cita it is.

What is the difference between anotar, apuntar, and escribir?

All three can involve writing, but they have different typical uses:

anotar – to jot down, to make a note (often of data, details, information)
- Voy a anotar tu número. → “I’m going to jot down your number.”
apuntar – very similar to anotar; often “to note down” or “to write down quickly,” also “to aim” or “to point” in other contexts
- Apunta la dirección. → “Write down the address.”
escribir – to write (more general: sentences, letters, essays, emails)
- Voy a escribir una carta. → “I’m going to write a letter.”

In Spain, anotar and apuntar are both natural in this sentence:

Quiero anotar la cita en mi agenda.
Quiero apuntar la cita en mi agenda.

Both are fine and mean almost the same. Escribir would sound more like you are “writing” something longer or more formal, so it’s less common here.

What does agenda mean in Spanish? Is it a false friend?

Yes, agenda is a bit of a false friend.

In English, agenda often means “list of topics for a meeting” or “political goals.”
In Spain, una agenda usually means a diary / planner / appointment book, whether paper or digital:
- Tengo todo en mi agenda. → “I have everything in my planner.”
- Lo apunto en la agenda del móvil. → “I’ll put it in my phone calendar.”

If you want to talk about a meeting agenda in Spanish, you would usually say orden del día:

¿Cuál es el orden del día de la reunión? → “What’s the agenda for the meeting?”

Why is it en mi agenda and not en la agenda?

Both are grammatically correct, but they sound slightly different:

en mi agenda – “in my planner / diary,” specifically yours.
en la agenda – “in the planner,” a more generic one (maybe obvious from context which planner it is).

In real life, people almost always say mi agenda when they mean their own personal planner. Using la agenda would be more likely if there is a shared agenda (for example, an office planner everyone uses) and it’s clear which one you mean.

Can I change the word order and say Quiero anotar en mi agenda la cita?

Yes, that word order is possible:

Quiero anotar la cita en mi agenda.
Quiero anotar en mi agenda la cita.

Both are correct. The first is the most neutral and natural. The second is grammatically fine but can sound a bit more marked; it slightly emphasizes en mi agenda (where you’re going to write it).

In Spanish, direct objects often go after the verb, but you can move phrases for emphasis or rhythm as long as the sentence stays clear.

Why is it Quiero and not Yo quiero? Is the subject pronoun not needed?

In Spanish, the subject pronoun (like yo) is usually optional because the verb ending already indicates the subject:

quiero → 1st person singular (I)
quieres → 2nd person singular (you)
quiere → 3rd person singular (he/she/you-formal)

So Quiero anotar la cita already means “I want to write down the appointment.”

You use yo when you want to emphasize “I”:

Yo quiero anotar la cita (no tú). → “I want to write down the appointment (not you).”

Without special emphasis, the natural choice is simply Quiero…

Why do we use anotar in the infinitive after quiero?

In Spanish, when one verb expresses desire, intention, or ability, it is often followed by another verb in the infinitive. Some common patterns:

querer + infinitive → to want to do something
- Quiero anotar la cita. → “I want to write down the appointment.”
poder + infinitive → to be able to do something
- Puedo ayudar. → “I can help.”
deber + infinitive → should / must do something
- Debes estudiar. → “You should study.”

So after quiero, you keep anotar in the infinitive, not anoto.

Could I say Quiero anotarla en mi agenda instead? How does the pronoun work?

Yes, that is perfectly correct and very natural:

Quiero anotar la cita en mi agenda.
Quiero anotarla en mi agenda.

In anotarla:

la is a direct object pronoun referring to la cita (feminine, singular).
It attaches to the infinitive anotar, forming one word: anotar + la → anotarla.

With a simple conjugated verb + infinitive pattern (like quiero anotar), you have two options in Spanish:

Pronoun before the conjugated verb:
- La quiero anotar en mi agenda.
Pronoun attached to the infinitive:
- Quiero anotarla en mi agenda.

Both orders are correct; attaching to the infinitive is very common in speech.

Why is the preposition en used here? Could I use a or por?

In this sentence, en is the normal choice:

en ≈ “in / on” → used for locations and surfaces and also for where you write something:
- Escribí su número en la servilleta. → “I wrote his number on the napkin.”
- Quiero anotar la cita en mi agenda.

Using a or por would sound wrong here:

a mi agenda would suggest movement toward the agenda (not the meaning here).
por mi agenda has other meanings (“through”/”because of”), not “in/on” as a place where you write.

So stick with en for “in my planner” / “on my calendar.”

Why is it la cita (feminine)? Is cita always feminine?

Yes, cita is a feminine noun, so it takes la in the singular and las in the plural:

la cita / las citas

Examples:

Tengo una cita importante. → “I have an important appointment.”
Voy a anotar todas las citas. → “I’m going to write down all the appointments.”

The gender of nouns in Spanish is mostly arbitrary and must be memorized, though many nouns ending in -a are feminine (with exceptions).

Why is it mi agenda and not mis agenda?

In Spanish, possessive adjectives agree in number with the thing possessed:

mi – my (singular noun)
mis – my (plural noun)

Here, agenda is singular, so we use mi:

mi agenda → “my planner” (one planner)
mis agendas → “my planners” (more than one planner)

You would say:

No encuentro mi agenda. → “I can’t find my planner.”
He perdido mis agendas. → “I’ve lost my planners.”

How is cita pronounced in Spain? Is it different from Latin America?

Yes, there is a typical difference:

In most of Spain (except some parts of Andalusia and the Canary Islands), c before i or e is pronounced like the English th in think:
- cita → [ˈθi.ta] (roughly THEE-ta)
In most of Latin America, c before i/e and z are pronounced like s:
- cita → [ˈsi.ta] (roughly SEE-ta)

So in Spain you’ll usually hear something like THEE-ta, while in Latin America you’ll hear SEE-ta. The rest of the sentence (Quiero anotar la cita en mi agenda) is pronounced similarly in both, with minor accent differences.