Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): En casa cada persona elige un tipo de música distinto para relajarse. - At home, each person chooses a different type of music to relax.

En casa = at home (context normally makes it clear whose home it is, usually the speaker’s or the family’s).
En la casa = in the house (more literal, a specific building; sounds less “family/home” and more just a physical location).
En mi casa = in/at my house (you’re explicitly specifying that it’s my home).

In everyday speech, en casa is the most natural here when talking about family habits.

Could I say Cada persona en casa elige… instead? Does the word order matter?

Yes, you can say Cada persona en casa elige un tipo de música distinto para relajarse, and it’s grammatically correct.

The difference is subtle in focus:

En casa cada persona elige… starts by setting the place: At home, each person chooses…
Cada persona en casa elige… starts by focusing on the people: Each person at home chooses…

Both are fine; the original is very natural and slightly emphasizes the home environment first.

Why is it elige and not a different verb like escoge or selecciona?

Elegir means to choose/pick, and in the present simple:

cada persona elige = each person chooses.

You could also say:

cada persona escoge (very natural and common too)
cada persona selecciona (more formal/technical)

All three are correct, but elige and escoge sound the most natural in a casual sentence about music at home. Selecciona can feel a bit “official” or “computer-like” here.

Why is it un tipo de música distinto and not distinta, since música is feminine?

The adjective distinto is agreeing with tipo (masculine), not with música.

Structure:

un tipo (masculine singular) de música distinto (masculine singular)

So, grammatically, it’s:

tipo distinto (different type) + de música (of music)

If you changed the structure and made the adjective agree with música, you’d say:

una música distinta (a different music / a different kind of music)

But with tipo, the masculine distinto is correct.

Can I just say un tipo distinto de música instead of un tipo de música distinto?

Yes, you can say un tipo distinto de música, and it’s also correct and natural.

un tipo de música distinto
un tipo distinto de música

Both mean basically “a different type of music”.
Stylistically, tipo de música distinto is very common in conversation; tipo distinto de música sounds perhaps a bit more “carefully arranged”, but both are fine.

Why is distinto placed after música instead of before, like in English “different type of music”?

In Spanish, adjectives typically come after the noun:

tipo distinto, música distinta, casa grande, etc.

English often puts adjectives before the noun: different type of music.

In the phrase un tipo de música distinto, the natural pattern is:

noun (tipo)
de
- noun (música)
adjective (distinto)

You can move some adjectives before the noun in Spanish, but that often changes nuance or sounds poetic; distinto is most natural after.

Why is the verb relajarse reflexive here? Could I say para relajar instead?

Spanish normally uses relajarse (reflexive) when you mean to relax oneself / to unwind:

Me relajo escuchando música. = I relax (myself) by listening to music.
para relajarse = in order to relax.

Relajar without se usually means to relax something else:

La música relaja a la gente. = The music relaxes people.

So in this sentence, because each person is relaxing themselves, para relajarse is the natural, idiomatic form. Para relajar alone would sound incomplete or wrong here.

Who does the se in relajarse refer to? Is it each person?

Yes. The se in para relajarse refers back to cada persona:

En casa cada persona elige… para relajarse.
→ Each person chooses… in order to relax themselves.

Even though the verb is in the infinitive, Spanish understands that se is linked to the subject of the main verb (cada persona elige). It doesn’t need to say para relajarse cada persona; that would be redundant and unnatural.

Why is it cada persona elige (singular verb) and not eligen (plural)?

Cada (each) in Spanish is grammatically singular, even though it refers to more than one individual conceptually.

Cada persona elige (not eligen)
Cada niño tiene un libro. (not tienen)

So cada persona elige is the correct agreement: singular subject → singular verb.

Could I say todo el mundo elige un tipo de música distinto instead of cada persona? What changes?

You can say En casa todo el mundo elige un tipo de música distinto para relajarse, and it’s natural.

Nuance:

cada persona = emphasizes each individual separately, one by one.
todo el mundo = more colloquial, everybody, focusing on the group as “everyone”.

Both are fine; the original slightly highlights the idea that each person has their own choice.

Why is the present tense elige used? Does it mean “usually chooses” or “is choosing now”?

Spanish present simple can express:

Habitual actions: what usually happens.
Actions happening now (depending on context).

Here, En casa cada persona elige… is clearly describing a habit: what normally happens at home.

If you wanted to stress the habitual idea even more, you could say:

En casa cada persona suele elegir un tipo de música distinto para relajarse.
(suele elegir = usually tends to choose)

Why is para used before relajarse? Could I use por or a?

Para + infinitive expresses purpose / goal: in order to…

para relajarse = in order to relax.

Por would not be correct here; por relajarse would suggest cause or reason (and even then would sound odd in this exact sentence). A relajarse can appear in other constructions (e.g. vamos a relajarnos), but not in this purpose structure.

So for “to relax / in order to relax” after a verb of choosing, para relajarse is the standard form.

Is the article un necessary in un tipo de música distinto? Can I omit it?

You really need un here. Without it, the sentence sounds incomplete or incorrect:

✅ elige un tipo de música distinto
❌ elige tipo de música distinto

In Spanish, when you talk about one kind/type of something in this way, you normally use the indefinite article (un/una):
un tipo de, una clase de, un estilo de, etc.