Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Mi amiga y yo hacemos tantos planes como mi hermana, pero casi nunca los cumplimos. - My friend and I make as many plans as my sister, but we hardly ever carry them out.

In Spanish (as in careful English), it’s more common and more polite to mention the other person first: “mi amiga y yo” = “my friend and I”.
Putting yo first (“yo y mi amiga”) can sound a bit self‑centred or childish in many contexts, although people do use it in casual speech.

So “mi amiga y yo” is simply the preferred, more natural order.

Why is the verb “hacemos” used here, and what does “hacer planes” mean?

“Hacemos” is the present tense, first person plural of hacer (“to do / to make”):

mi amiga y yo hacemos = “my friend and I make / we make”.

The expression “hacer planes” is a fixed collocation meaning:

hacer planes = “to make plans”.

You would not normally say ✗ tomar planes or ✗ crear planes in this context. Hacer planes is the standard and most natural way to say “to make plans” in Spanish.

How does “tantos … como” work here, and how is it different from “tan … como” and “tanto como”?

In the sentence:

tantos planes como mi hermana = “as many plans as my sister (does)”.

Here’s the pattern:

tantos / tantas + plural noun + como
- Used for countable nouns (number of things).
- tantos planes como mi hermana = as many plans as my sister
- tantas amigas como tú = as many (female) friends as you
tanto / tanta + singular (uncountable) noun + como
- Used for amount/quantity, not number.
- tanto dinero como tú = as much money as you
- tanta paciencia como ella = as much patience as she has
tan + adjective/adverb + como
- Used to compare qualities, not quantities.
- tan alto como ella = as tall as her
- habla tan rápido como tú = he/she speaks as fast as you
tanto como (without a noun after it)
- Used after verbs to compare how much you do something.
- trabajo tanto como tú = I work as much as you (do).

In your sentence, we’re comparing the number of plans, so “tantos planes como” is the correct form.

Why can the Spanish sentence stop at “como mi hermana” and not say “como mi hermana hace”?

Spanish often drops repeated verbs in comparisons when they are clear from context.

Full version (very explicit, but a bit heavy):

Hacemos tantos planes como mi hermana hace.

Natural version:

Hacemos tantos planes como mi hermana.

The verb hacer is understood from the first clause (hacemos), so Spanish usually omits “hace” in the second part. English does something similar sometimes:
We make as many plans as my sister (does). – the “does” is optional in English, too.

Why is it “mi hermana” and not “la mi hermana” or something with an article?

With possessive adjectives (mi, tu, su, nuestro, etc.), Spanish normally does not use a definite article in front of singular close family members:

mi hermana = my sister
mi madre = my mother
mi padre = my father

You would not say ✗ la mi hermana in standard Spanish. The possessive (mi) already makes it specific, so no article is needed.

(You do see articles with family names in some dialects and special uses, but “mi hermana” here is the standard form.)

Why is the conjunction “pero” used and not “sino”?

Pero and sino both can be translated as “but”, but they are used differently:

pero = “but / however”, introduces a simple contrast, not necessarily correcting a negation.
sino = “but rather / but instead”, used after a negation to correct or replace what came before.

Your sentence:

Hacemos tantos planes como mi hermana, pero casi nunca los cumplimos.

There is no negation before pero; it’s just a contrast: we make as many plans as she does, but we almost never follow through. So “pero” is correct.

Sino would only fit a structure like:

No hacemos pocos planes, sino muchos. = We don’t make few plans, but rather many.

What does “casi nunca” mean exactly, and can it go in another position?

“Casi nunca” means “almost never / hardly ever”.

In your sentence:

casi nunca los cumplimos = we almost never follow through on them.

Word order:

The usual and most natural position is before the verb (or before the object pronoun + verb group):
- Casi nunca los cumplimos.
- Casi nunca vamos. = We almost never go.

You can also say:

No los cumplimos casi nunca.

This is also correct and common in Spanish. The meaning is essentially the same: we almost never fulfill them.

What is the function of “los” in “casi nunca los cumplimos”, and why is it masculine plural?

“Los” is a direct object pronoun that means “them” here.

It refers back to los planes (“the plans”).
Los is masculine plural, matching planes (which is masculine plural: el plan / los planes).

Structure:

los cumplimos = we fulfill them / we carry them out
- los = them (the plans)
- cumplimos = we fulfill / we carry out

Position:

In simple tenses, object pronouns normally go before the conjugated verb:
- los cumplimos, los vemos, los compramos, etc.
You could also repeat the noun instead:
- casi nunca cumplimos los planes = we almost never follow through on the plans.
  But then you don’t use los.

Why is the verb “cumplimos” used with planes? In English we don’t usually “fulfill plans”.

Cumplir has several meanings, among them:

cumplir un plan / una promesa / una amenaza
= to carry out / to fulfill / to follow through on a plan / promise / threat.

So, with planes, cumplir means:

cumplir los planes = to actually do what you planned; to follow through on your plans.

Near equivalents in English:

“but we almost never follow through on them”
“but we almost never carry them out”.

In Spain, other natural options (slightly different nuances) might be:

llevar a cabo los planes (carry the plans out)
hacer realidad los planes (make the plans reality).

But cumplir los planes is common and idiomatic.

Why is the present tense (“hacemos”, “cumplimos”) used instead of something like “estamos haciendo”?

The simple present in Spanish is used very often for habitual actions, more or less like in English:

Hacemos tantos planes… = We make so many plans… (in general, regularly)
…pero casi nunca los cumplimos. = …but we almost never follow through on them.

If you used the progressive (estamos haciendo, estamos cumpliendo) it would sound more like:

You’re talking about right now or a temporary situation, not a general habit.

For a general, repeated behaviour, the ordinary present (hacemos, cumplimos) is the natural choice.

Could you replace “mi amiga y yo” with “nosotras” in this sentence?

Yes, you could say:

Nosotras hacemos tantos planes como mi hermana, pero casi nunca los cumplimos.

Notes:

nosotras is the feminine “we”, used when the group is all female (which fits mi amiga y yo, assuming the speaker is female).
Using mi amiga y yo makes it very explicit who is included.
Using nosotras is shorter and more general; the identity of the group must already be clear from context.

Both are correct; choice depends on what you want to emphasize and how explicit you need to be.

Why is it “tantos planes como mi hermana” and not “tantos planes que mi hermana”?

Spanish uses “como” (not “que”) to express equality:

tan alto como tú = as tall as you
tanta energía como él = as much energy as him
tantos planes como mi hermana = as many plans as my sister

By contrast, “que” is used with comparatives of inequality:

más planes que mi hermana = more plans than my sister
menos tiempo que tú = less time than you

So, because the structure here is “as many … as …” (equality), “como” is the correct word, not “que”.