Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Todas queremos seguir estudiando español.

It is standing for todas nosotras = “all of us (women)”.
Spanish adjectives and pronouns have gender:
- todas = feminine plural (“all” referring to a group of females)
- todos = masculine plural (“all” referring to a mixed group or a group of males)

So the sentence implies that the group speaking is composed only of women:
(Nosotras) todas queremos seguir estudiando español.
→ “All of us (women) want to continue studying Spanish.”

Why is there no separate word for “we” in the sentence?

Spanish usually doesn’t need a subject pronoun (like I, you, we) because the verb ending already shows the subject.

queremos is the 1st person plural form of querer (to want).
The -mos ending tells you the subject is “we” (nosotros/nosotras).

So (Nosotras) queremos already means “we want”, and it’s clear from context that todas = “all (of us)”.
You can say Nosotras todas queremos seguir estudiando español, but it’s not necessary; Spanish usually drops the pronoun unless you want extra emphasis or clarity.

Can you also say Todas nosotras queremos seguir estudiando español? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say:

Todas nosotras queremos seguir estudiando español.

Meaning is the same: “All of us (women) want to continue studying Spanish.”

Differences are subtle and mostly about emphasis:

Todas queremos seguir…
– Most natural, light way of speaking; “all” is emphasized, “we” is understood.
Todas nosotras queremos seguir…
– Adds extra emphasis on “we women”, for example contrasting with another group:
- Todas nosotras queremos seguir estudiando español, pero ellos no.
  “All of us (women) want to continue studying Spanish, but they don’t.”

In everyday speech, Todas queremos… is perfectly normal and slightly less heavy.

When should I use todas and when todos?

Use:

todas (feminine plural) when the group is 100% female:
- Todas queremos seguir estudiando español.
  “We all (women) want to continue studying Spanish.”
- Todas las chicas están aquí.
  “All the girls are here.”
todos (masculine plural) in two cases:
1. Mixed group (men + women)
2. All men
Examples:
- Todos queremos seguir estudiando español.
  “We all want to continue studying Spanish.” (mixed or all male)
- Todos los alumnos están aquí.
  “All the students are here.” (gender mixed or unknown)

If you’re not sure of the group’s gender, todos is the default.

Why is todas placed at the beginning of the sentence and not after the verb?

Todas is at the beginning to emphasize “all”:

Todas queremos seguir estudiando español.
Focus: every single one of us.

Other positions are possible, but less common or slightly different in tone:

Queremos todas seguir estudiando español.
Possible, but sounds more formal or marked; not the most natural everyday option.
Queremos seguir estudiando español todas.
Also possible, often in spoken Spanish, with a kind of afterthought emphasis:
“We want to keep studying Spanish, all of us.”

Most natural and neutral: Todas queremos seguir estudiando español.

Why is it seguir estudiando and not seguir estudiar?

After seguir (to continue/keep), Spanish normally uses the gerund (-ando / -iendo), not the infinitive, to express “continuing an action”:

seguir + gerundio
- seguir estudiando = “to continue / keep studying”
- seguir trabajando = “to keep working”
- seguir hablando = “to keep talking”

Using the infinitive (seguir estudiar) is incorrect in standard Spanish for this meaning.

So:

queremos seguir estudiando español
= “we want to continue studying Spanish”

Think of seguir + -ing form as a fixed pattern:
seguir + gerund (doing something).

Can I say seguir a estudiar like in English “to go on to study”?

No, seguir a + infinitive is not used in standard Spanish with this meaning.

✅ seguir estudiando
“to keep / continue studying”
❌ seguir a estudiar
Not idiomatic; sounds wrong.

If you want the idea “go on to study (something new, at the next level)”, you typically still use:

seguir estudiando, sometimes with an added noun:
- seguir estudiando en la universidad – “go on to study at university”
- seguir estudiando español – “go on to study Spanish (further)”

What is the difference between querer seguir estudiando español and just seguir estudiando español?

querer seguir estudiando español
“to want to keep studying Spanish”
seguir estudiando español
“to keep / continue studying Spanish”

So in the sentence:

Todas queremos seguir estudiando español.
1. queremos – “we want”
2. seguir – “to continue”
3. estudiando – “studying”

The structure is:

querer + infinitive → “to want to …”
Here, the infinitive is a phrase: seguir estudiando español.

In English we also sometimes chain verbs: “We want to keep studying Spanish.” Spanish does something similar:
Queremos seguir estudiando español.

Why is español not capitalized?

In Spanish:

Nationalities and languages are written with a lowercase letter:
- el español, el inglés, el francés
- soy español, soy inglesa

So:

estudiar español
not estudiar Español

English capitalizes language names (Spanish, English), but Spanish does not.

What tense and person is queremos here, and what does it tell me?

Queremos is:

Verb: querer (to want, to love)
Tense: present indicative
Person/number: 1st person plural (“we”)

Conjugation in the present (for reference, Spain variety):

yo quiero – I want
tú quieres – you (singular informal) want
él / ella quiere – he / she wants
nosotros / nosotras queremos – we want
vosotros / vosotras queréis – you (plural informal, Spain) want
ellos / ellas quieren – they want

So queremos tells you clearly that the subject is “we”, which is why nosotras can be omitted in the sentence.