Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Mi profesora está acostumbrada a explicar la gramática despacio para los principiantes. - My teacher is used to explaining grammar slowly for beginners.

In Spanish, “estar acostumbrado/a” is the normal way to say “to be used to” something. It’s treated like a state or condition, so it uses estar, not ser.

Estar acostumbrado/a a… = to be used/accustomed to…
- Mi profesora está acostumbrada a explicar…
  My teacher is used to explaining…

Using ser acostumbrado is either incorrect or extremely rare in modern Spanish. Native speakers will always say estar acostumbrado/a for this meaning, both in Spain and Latin America.

Why is there an “a” after “acostumbrada”?

The expression is estar acostumbrado/a a + noun / infinitive. The preposition a is fixed; it’s part of the structure.

estar acostumbrada a algo – to be used to something
estar acostumbrada a hacer algo – to be used to doing something

So:

está acostumbrada a explicar = is used to explaining
está acostumbrada a la gramática = is used to grammar (not natural here, just an example of a + noun)

You must keep the a; you can’t say “está acostumbrada explicar”.

Why is it “a explicar” (infinitive) and not “explica” (present tense)?

After estar acostumbrado/a a, you use an infinitive to express “used to doing something”:

está acostumbrada a explicar = is used to explaining
está acostumbrado a trabajar = is used to working

If you said “está acostumbrada explica”, it would be ungrammatical because Spanish does not allow a finite verb (like explica) directly after acostumbrado a. It has to be a + infinitive.

What’s the difference between “estar acostumbrada a” and “acostumbrarse a”?

They’re related but not the same:

estar acostumbrado/a a…
- Describes the resulting state: someone is used to something.
- Focus on the current situation.
- Mi profesora está acostumbrada a explicar despacio.
  My teacher is used to explaining slowly.
acostumbrarse a… (reflexive verb)
- Describes the process of getting used to something.
- Often appears in past tenses or with “little by little”.
- Mi profesora se acostumbró a explicar despacio.
  My teacher got used to explaining slowly.

So:

se acostumbró a explicar → she went through the process
está acostumbrada a explicar → now she is in that state

Why is “acostumbrada” feminine?

Adjectives in Spanish agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

The noun is profesora (feminine, singular).
So the adjective must also be feminine singular: acostumbrada.

Other combinations:

Mi profesor está acostumbrado… (masculine singular)
Mis profesoras están acostumbradas… (feminine plural)
Mis profesores están acostumbrados… (masculine plural or mixed group)

Why is it “Mi profesora” and not “Mi profesor” or “mi maestra”?

profesora = female teacher, typically secondary school, high school, university.
profesor = male teacher in the same contexts.
In Spain, profesor/a is the usual word for school and university teachers.
maestro/a is more associated with primary school teachers, and even there profe (short for profesor/a) is very common informally.

So if the teacher is a woman and you’re speaking about a school/university context in Spain, mi profesora is the natural choice.

Why is it “la gramática” with the article? Could you say just “gramática”?

Spanish uses the definite article much more than English, especially with general concepts and abstract nouns.

explicar la gramática = to explain (the) grammar (grammar in general, or the grammar of the language being studied)
Saying just explicar gramática is possible, but:
- It sounds more technical or incomplete in many contexts.
- In a sentence like this, explicar la gramática is the most natural, everyday phrasing.

So yes, you can hear explicar gramática, but explicar la gramática is the default, especially in a classroom context.

What’s the difference between “despacio” and “lentamente”? Could you use “lento”?

All are related to slowness, but they’re used slightly differently:

despacio – very common adverb, everyday word for slowly
- explicar despacio = to explain slowly
lentamente – also an adverb, more formal or careful-sounding, but still normal
- explicar lentamente
lento – adjective: slow, not the normal choice right after a verb
- un coche lento = a slow car
- After a verb you usually need an adverb (despacio / lentamente), not an adjective.

In your sentence, despacio is the most natural and neutral option:

…está acostumbrada a explicar la gramática despacio… ✅
…está acostumbrada a explicar la gramática lentamente… ✅ (slightly more formal)
…está acostumbrada a explicar la gramática lento… ⚠️ heard in speech, but less standard than despacio/lentamente.

Can “despacio” go before the verb, like in English “slowly explains”?

Normally, adverbs like despacio go after the verb or at the end of the clause:

Explica la gramática despacio.
La gramática la explica despacio.

Putting despacio before the verb is possible but much less common and often sounds marked or emphatic:

Despacio explica la gramática. (very unusual; you’d only use this in special stylistic or poetic contexts)

So in normal speech, keep despacio after the verb or at the end of the sentence, as in your example.

Why is it “para los principiantes” and not “para principiantes” or “a los principiantes”?

There are three slightly different options:

para los principiantes
- Literally: for the beginners
- Refers to a specific group (the beginners in this course, class, etc.)
- That fits well in a classroom context.
para principiantes
- Literally: for beginners (in general)
- More generic, like on a book cover: “Curso de español para principiantes”.
a los principiantes
- Focuses on who receives the action: to the beginners.
- You’d say “explica la gramática despacio a los principiantes”.

In your sentence, para los principiantes emphasizes that the way she explains is for the sake of / for the benefit of the beginners. That’s why para is used instead of a here.

Why “los principiantes” if the group might include women? Why not something feminine?

In Spanish, principiante is common gender:

el principiante = male beginner
la principiante = female beginner
los principiantes = a group of beginners (all male or mixed)
las principiantes = a group of only female beginners

When talking about a mixed or unspecified group, Spanish uses the masculine plural by default, so:

los principiantes is standard even if the group includes women.

Could you say “Mi profesora suele explicar la gramática despacio…” instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, that’s correct, but there is a nuance:

está acostumbrada a explicar…
- Focus on her state: she is used to doing this; it feels normal or natural to her.
suele explicar… (from soler)
- Focus on habit/frequency: she usually / tends to explain the grammar slowly.

So:

Mi profesora está acostumbrada a explicar la gramática despacio.
→ This is normal for her; she’s used to this way of teaching.
Mi profesora suele explicar la gramática despacio.
→ This is what she typically does (her usual habit).

In many contexts both could fit, but they don’t emphasize exactly the same thing.

Is “principiante” a noun or an adjective here?

In this sentence, principiantes is a noun:

los principiantes = the beginners

But principiante can also be used adjectivally:

un curso principiante (or more common: un curso para principiantes)
un nivel principiante = a beginner level

So the word can function as both noun and adjective, depending on context. Here it clearly functions as a noun because it has the article los and stands for people.

Could you change the word order, like “explicar despacio la gramática”? Is that okay?

Yes, both orders are grammatically correct:

…a explicar la gramática despacio… ✅
…a explicar despacio la gramática… ✅

The difference is very small:

explicar la gramática despacio feels slightly more neutral and is very common.
explicar despacio la gramática puts a tiny bit more emphasis on despacio, but it’s still standard.

Native speakers use both; your original order is perfectly natural.