Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Al final no está decepcionado, sino agradecido por pasar tiempo con la familia. - In the end he is not disappointed, but grateful to spend time with the family.

al final
- Focuses on the final result after a process or story.
- Often contrasts with expectations.
- Example:
  - Al final no llovió. – In the end it didn’t rain.
finalmente
- More like “finally / eventually” in a more formal or written tone.
- Often used to introduce the last point in a list, or an outcome.
- Example:
  - Finalmente, decidimos quedarnos en casa.
por fin
- Means “at last / finally”, with a strong feeling of relief or impatience.
- Example:
  - Por fin llegaron. – They finally arrived (at last!).

In your sentence, Al final no está decepcionado… suggests a contrast between what you might have expected at first and how things actually turn out in the end.

Why is it no está decepcionado, sino agradecido and not no está decepcionado, pero agradecido?

Because sino is used after a negation to correct or replace what comes before it, while pero simply adds a contrast.

sino = “but rather / but instead”, correcting the first part:
- No está decepcionado, sino agradecido.
  = He isn’t disappointed, but rather grateful (instead).
pero = “but / however”, adding another piece of information:
- Está decepcionado, pero también está agradecido.
  = He is disappointed, but he is also grateful.

Rule of thumb:

no A, sino B → A is not true, B is (replacement).
A, pero B → A is true, and B also happens (contrast).

So here we’re saying: He is not disappointed; instead, he is grateful. That’s a sino, not a pero situation.

Why is it está decepcionado with estar, not es decepcionado with ser?

Because decepcionado in this context describes a temporary emotional state, not a permanent characteristic. In Spanish:

estar + adjective → state, condition, mood (often temporary)
ser + adjective → essential, defining quality (often permanent or typical)

So:

Está decepcionado. – He is (feeling) disappointed (right now / in this situation).
Es decepcionado. – sounds wrong in Spanish; people don’t say this for “is a disappointed person.”

Same with agradecido:

Está agradecido. – He feels grateful (now / in this context).
Es agradecido. – He is (by nature) a grateful person.
This is possible, but it’s a comment on his character, not his current reaction.

In your sentence, we’re talking about how he ends up feeling at the end of this situation, so estar is correct.

Why are the adjectives decepcionado and agradecido in the masculine singular form? How would they change with a different subject?

Because Spanish adjectives must agree in gender and number with the subject. The sentence suggests a singular, masculine subject (e.g. él).

Patterns:

Masculine singular: decepcionado, agradecido
Feminine singular: decepcionada, agradecida
Masculine/mixed plural: decepcionados, agradecidos
Feminine plural: decepcionadas, agradecidas

Examples:

Ella al final no está decepcionada, sino agradecida.
Al final no están decepcionados, sino agradecidos.
Al final no están decepcionadas, sino agradecidas.

Why is the subject pronoun (like él or ella) omitted?

In Spanish, you usually omit subject pronouns because the verb form already tells you who the subject is.

(Él) no está decepcionado.
(Ella) no está decepcionada.

Both are correct, but without extra context, Spanish tends to drop él/ella unless:

You want to emphasize who it is:
- Él no está decepcionado, sino agradecido. (He, not someone else.)
You need to avoid ambiguity when several people have been mentioned.

In isolation, no está decepcionado is understood as “he/she is not disappointed,” depending on context.

Why is it agradecido por pasar tiempo and not something like agradecido porque pasa tiempo?

After agradecido, Spanish usually uses por + infinitive (or por + noun) to express the reason / cause of the gratitude:

agradecido por pasar tiempo con la familia
= grateful for spending time with the family.

Patterns:

estar agradecido por + infinitive
- Está agradecido por poder ayudar. – grateful for being able to help.
estar agradecido por + noun
- Está agradecido por la oportunidad.

You can see agradecido porque…, but then porque introduces a full clause:

Está agradecido porque pasa tiempo con la familia.
= He is grateful because he spends time with the family.

Grammatically it’s possible, but:

por + infinitive is more compact and sounds more natural in this specific sentence.

Why is pasar in the infinitive (por pasar tiempo) and not a gerund like por pasando tiempo?

In Spanish, after prepositions (like por, para, sin, antes de, después de), you must use the infinitive, not a gerund:

por pasar tiempo (correct)
por pasando tiempo (incorrect)

Examples:

Gracias por venir. – Thanks for coming.
Antes de comer, lávate las manos.
Después de estudiar, salimos.

So por pasar tiempo con la familia follows the standard pattern por + infinitive = “for / because of doing X”.

Why is por used in por pasar tiempo con la familia, not para?

Here por expresses cause or reason: he is grateful because of / for the fact of spending time with his family.

Rough guide:

por + infinitive → reason / cause
- Está contento por haber terminado. – happy for having finished.
para + infinitive → purpose / goal
- Estudia para conseguir trabajo. – studies in order to get a job.

In your sentence:

agradecido por pasar tiempo = grateful because he gets to spend / for having spent time. Using para pasar tiempo would suggest purpose: “grateful in order to spend time,” which doesn’t fit here.

Why is it con la familia and not con su familia?

Both are possible, but they feel slightly different:

con la familia
- Often understood as “with the family” in a general sense, or “with his/her/their family,” depending on context.
- In Spanish, the definite article la can stand in where English would often use a possessive.
- Common in everyday speech:
  - Voy a comer con la familia. – I’m going to eat with (my/the) family.
con su familia
- Explicitly “with his/her/your (formal)/their family.”
- Used when you want to be very clear whose family it is, especially if there could be confusion.

In many contexts, especially in Spain, con la familia will naturally be understood as the speaker’s (or the subject’s) own family, so su can be omitted without losing clarity.

Is pasar tiempo con la familia a common expression in Spanish? Are there alternatives?

Yes, pasar tiempo con la familia is natural and widely used, especially in spoken language:

Me gusta pasar tiempo con la familia.

Common alternatives:

pasar tiempo en familia
- Slightly more idiomatic and compact in many contexts.
- Emphasizes being together as a family unit.
- Example: Es importante pasar tiempo en familia.
estar con la familia
- More general: to be with the family.
- Example: Prefiero estar con la familia los fines de semana.

In your sentence, you could also say:

…agradecido por pasar tiempo en familia.
This is very natural in Spain.

Could we say Al final no está decepcionado, sino que está agradecido? Is that different?

Yes, that’s possible:

Al final no está decepcionado, sino que está agradecido por pasar tiempo con la familia.

Here:

sino is followed by que + verb (está).
It’s a bit more explicit because you repeat the verb está.

Subtle differences:

sino agradecido (original): shorter, smoother, very natural.
sino que está agradecido: slightly heavier, can add a touch of emphasis on the whole second clause as a full statement.

Both are grammatically correct and idiomatic.

Why is there a comma before sino? Is it required?

Yes, in this kind of structure the comma is standard and recommended:

Al final no está decepcionado, sino agradecido…

Reason:

We have two parts:
- no está decepcionado
- sino agradecido por pasar tiempo con la familia
The comma separates the negated idea from the correcting idea introduced by sino.

In writing, you will almost always see:

no A, sino B
with a comma before sino.