Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Odio levantarme tan temprano los domingos de invierno. - I hate getting up so early on winter Sundays.

Odio + infinitive → Odio levantarme
not Odio me levanto, because me levanto is a conjugated form (present tense, 1st person singular), and after odio we need the verb in the infinitive.

The reflexive pronoun me stays attached to the infinitive:

levantar + me → levantarme

What does the reflexive form levantarme literally mean, and why is it reflexive?

The verb levantarse means “to get up” (from bed, from a chair, etc.). Literally, the reflexive form is:

levantar = to lift, to raise (something)
levantarse = to lift oneself, to raise oneself → to get up

In levantarme, the pieces are:

levantar (to get up)
me (myself)

So levantarme = to get (myself) up.

You use the reflexive because the subject (yo) and the “object” (the person being raised) are the same person: I get myself up.

Could I say Odio me levantar tan temprano instead of Odio levantarme tan temprano?

No, Odio me levantar… is incorrect.

With infinitives in Spanish, object and reflexive pronouns normally attach to the end of the infinitive:

levantar + me → levantarme
bañar + me → bañarme
vestir + me → vestirme

So the correct options are:

Odio levantarme tan temprano. ✅
No quiero levantarme tan temprano. ✅

You cannot place the pronoun before the infinitive in this structure:

Odio me levantar… ❌
No quiero me levantar… ❌

Why do we say Odio levantarme and not Me odio levantarme?

In Odio levantarme, the verb odiar (“to hate”) takes as its direct object the action levantarme:

Odio [levantarme tan temprano].
→ I hate [getting up so early].

You only use me odio when you literally mean “I hate myself”:

Me odio. = I hate myself. (a strong, personal statement)

So:

Odio levantarme tan temprano. = I hate the action of getting up early. ✅
Me odio levantarme tan temprano. = sounds like “I hate myself getting up early” and is not idiomatic. ❌

Why is it tan temprano and not muy temprano or tanto temprano?

In this sentence, tan is used as an intensifier meaning “so”:

tan temprano = so early

You could also say muy temprano (very early), but tan temprano often sounds a bit more emotional or emphatic, especially with verbs like odiar:

Odio levantarme tan temprano.
→ I hate getting up so early.

The combination tanto temprano is not correct in Spanish. Tanto goes with nouns or with como in comparisons, not directly with adjectives/adverbs like temprano on its own:

tanto trabajo (so much work)
tan temprano como ayer (as early as yesterday)
but not tanto temprano ❌

Is there any difference in meaning between tan temprano and just temprano?

Yes, tan temprano is stronger and more expressive.

Odio levantarme temprano.
→ I hate getting up early. (neutral statement)
Odio levantarme tan temprano.
→ I hate getting up so early. (adds emphasis; it sounds more “complainy”)

So tan adds emotional weight or intensity to temprano.

Why do we say los domingos and not just domingos or el domingo?

In Spanish, when you talk about something that happens regularly on a day of the week, you normally use:

el + singular for “on Mondays (in general)”
los + plural for “on Mondays (plural, habitual)”

Both are used for habitual actions, and usage varies by region, but in this kind of sentence:

los domingos = on Sundays (habitually, every Sunday)

Domingos without article is possible in certain phrases, but for “on Sundays” as a regular time expression, los domingos is the natural choice:

Odio levantarme tan temprano los domingos. ✅

El domingo usually refers to a specific Sunday:

Este domingo / el domingo voy a viajar.
→ This Sunday I’m going to travel.

What does los domingos de invierno express exactly? Why de invierno?

Los domingos de invierno literally means “the Sundays of winter” and is understood as:

Sundays in winter / winter Sundays (as a general period)

The preposition de here marks a type or belonging:

los días de verano = summer days
las noches de invierno = winter nights

So:

los domingos de invierno = the Sundays that occur in winter (as a category, in general)

Could I also say los domingos en invierno? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

Odio levantarme tan temprano los domingos en invierno. ✅

Both are correct. The difference is subtle:

los domingos de invierno
- sounds slightly more like a fixed concept: “winter Sundays”
- more compact, a bit more literary or descriptive.
los domingos en invierno
- more literally “on Sundays in winter”
- a bit more explicitly temporal: Sundays during the winter season.

In everyday speech in Spain, both versions are perfectly acceptable and sound natural.

Why is it odio and not something like odío with an accent?

Odio is the 1st person singular present of odiar (to hate):

yo odio
tú odias
él/ella odia

It doesn’t need a written accent because it follows regular Spanish stress rules:

Words ending in a vowel, -n, or -s are normally stressed on the second-to-last syllable.
odio ends in a vowel (o), so the natural stress is Ó-dio (first syllable), which is exactly where we want it.
Since the natural stress and the actual stress match, there is no accent mark.

If it were written odío, the stress would fall on -dío (last syllable), which would be incorrect.

Why don’t we say Yo odio at the beginning? Is yo implied?

Yes, yo is implied.

In Spanish, the verb ending -o already tells you that the subject is yo (I):

odio = I hate
como = I eat
vivo = I live

So you can safely omit yo if context is clear:

Odio levantarme tan temprano… = I hate getting up so early…

You can include yo for emphasis or contrast:

Yo odio levantarme tan temprano, pero mi hermano no.
→ I hate getting up so early, but my brother doesn’t.

Could I change the word order and say Odio los domingos de invierno levantarme tan temprano?

That word order is grammatically possible but sounds unnatural in everyday Spanish. It feels clumsy and marked.

Natural orders are:

Odio levantarme tan temprano los domingos de invierno. ✅
Los domingos de invierno odio levantarme tan temprano. ✅ (more emphasis on the time “winter Sundays”)

Placing los domingos de invierno between odio and levantarme:

Odio los domingos de invierno levantarme tan temprano.
sounds odd, because levantarme tan temprano is what you hate; los domingos de invierno is just the time when it happens. Keeping the verb + its complement together is more natural.