Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): A veces pregunto el significado de una palabra cuando no la entiendo. - Sometimes I ask for the meaning of a word when I do not understand it.

A veces pregunto el significado… → neutral, normal.
A veces yo pregunto el significado… → puts extra emphasis on yo, as if contrasting with others: Sometimes *I ask the meaning (not other people)*.

In everyday speech, the version without yo is more common unless you need that emphasis.

Why is there no comma after A veces? In English we often write “Sometimes, I ask…”.

In Spanish, short adverbials like A veces, Normalmente, Generalmente at the beginning of a sentence usually do not take a comma:

A veces pregunto el significado…
Normalmente estudio por la tarde.

You can add a comma for a slight pause and stylistic effect, but it’s not necessary and is less common in this short case. Many style guides recommend no comma here.

Why is it pregunto el significado and not pregunto por el significado?

Both are possible, but they’re used slightly differently:

preguntar algo = to ask something (a question, the meaning, the time, etc.)
- Pregunto el significado de una palabra.
  I ask the meaning of a word.
preguntar por algo = to ask about something / to ask after someone
- Pregunto por el significado de esa palabra.
  I ask about the meaning of that word.
- Preguntó por ti.
  He/She asked after you.

In this sentence, preguntar el significado is very natural and direct: you ask what the meaning is. Using por would sound more like asking about it in a broader sense.

Why can’t I just say pregunto una palabra to mean “I ask the meaning of a word”?

Because preguntar doesn’t work like English ask here.

In Spanish:

You preguntas una cosa if that “thing” is a question or piece of information:
- Pregunto la hora. = I ask the time.
- Pregunto el significado. = I ask the meaning.

But palabra (word) is not the information you want; it’s the item whose meaning you want. So the natural structure is:

preguntar el significado de una palabra
or: preguntar qué significa una palabra

preguntar una palabra sounds like you are asking a word itself as a question, which is not how Spanish expresses this idea.

What’s the difference between preguntar and pedir? Could I say pido el significado?

They’re different verbs:

preguntar = to ask (a question)
- Pregunto el significado. = I ask what it means.
pedir = to ask for / request / order
- Pido un café. = I order a coffee.
- Te pido ayuda. = I ask you for help.

You normally preguntas information, and pides things or actions.
So pido el significado is possible but sounds odd; it’s like “I request the meaning”, not the usual way to say it. Use preguntar with information like this.

Why is it el significado de una palabra and not el significado a una palabra?

In Spanish, significado de X is the standard pattern:

el significado de una palabra = the meaning of a word
el significado de esta frase = the meaning of this sentence

The preposition a is not used in this relationship. a often indicates direction, indirect objects, etc., not possession or relation like “of”. For that, Spanish uses de.

Why is it el significado de una palabra and not el significado de la palabra?

Both are grammatically correct, but they mean slightly different things:

el significado de una palabra = the meaning of a word (any word, non-specific; speaking in general about what happens when there is some word you don’t know)
el significado de la palabra = the meaning of the word (a specific word that has already been mentioned or is known in context)

In this sentence, we’re talking about any word that the speaker doesn’t understand, so una palabra (indefinite) is more natural.

In cuando no la entiendo, what does la refer to? Why not lo?

la is a direct object pronoun replacing la palabra:

no entiendo la palabra → no la entiendo

Pronouns agree in gender and number with the noun they replace:

la palabra → feminine singular → la
el significado → masculine singular → lo

If the sentence were about the meaning, you could say:

A veces pregunto el significado de una palabra cuando no lo entiendo.
Here lo would refer to el significado.

In the original sentence, the intended meaning is “when I don’t understand the word”, so la is the correct pronoun.

Can I put la in a different position, like cuando la no entiendo or cuando no entiendo la?

With a single conjugated verb (like entiendo), unstressed object pronouns normally go before the verb:

no la entiendo ✅

You cannot say:

la no entiendo ❌ (wrong order of no and pronoun)
no entiendo la ❌ (you can’t leave the article/pronoun hanging after the verb)

Other correct placements exist if there’s an infinitive or gerund:

cuando no la entiendo
cuando no entiendo la palabra
cuando no entiendo entenderla (weird example, but note entenderla attached to the infinitive)

But in this sentence, cuando no la entiendo is the correct and natural word order.

Why is it cuando no la entiendo with the indicative and not cuando no la entienda with the subjunctive?

With cuando, Spanish uses:

Indicative for habitual, repeated, or past actions:
- Cuando tengo tiempo, estudio.
- A veces pregunto el significado… cuando no la entiendo.
  → This describes a general habit.
Subjunctive when the action is future and not yet realized (often in main clause with future or an imperative):
- Cuando tenga tiempo, estudiaré. = When I have time (in the future), I’ll study.
- Cuando no la entiendas, pregúntame. = When you don’t understand it, ask me.

In your sentence, it’s a general habit, so no la entiendo (indicative) is correct.

Why is the verb pregunto in the simple present and not estoy preguntando?

Spanish simple present covers both:

English I ask
English I am asking (in some contexts)

Here we’re talking about a habitual action, so Spanish uses the simple present:

A veces pregunto… = Sometimes I (usually) ask…

Estoy preguntando focuses on an action happening right now, at this moment:

Estoy preguntando el significado de esta palabra.
= I am (right now) asking the meaning of this word.

For habits and routines, use simple present, not the progressive.

Could I say A veces pregunto el significado de una palabra que no entiendo instead of cuando no la entiendo?

Yes, and it’s correct, but slightly different:

…cuando no la entiendo.
→ Focuses on the moment when you don’t understand the word.
…de una palabra que no entiendo.
→ Uses a relative clause (a word that I don’t understand). It sounds a bit more compact and emphasizes the type of word: a word I don’t understand.

Both are natural; the original with cuando emphasizes the time/condition, while que no entiendo describes the word itself.

Are there other natural ways to say the same idea in Spain Spanish?

Yes, some very common alternatives are:

A veces pregunto qué significa una palabra cuando no la entiendo.
A veces pregunto el significado de alguna palabra cuando no la entiendo.
A veces pregunto qué quiere decir una palabra cuando no la entiendo. (qué quiere decir is very frequent in Spain for “what it means”)

All keep the same basic structure and are idiomatic in Spain.