Breakdown of Mi amiga quiere estudiar para solucionar averías eléctricas y trabajar en el pueblo.
Questions & Answers about Mi amiga quiere estudiar para solucionar averías eléctricas y trabajar en el pueblo.
Because amiga refers to a female friend. In Spanish, most nouns referring to people have masculine and feminine forms:
- amigo = (male) friend
- amiga = (female) friend
The possessive mi (my) does not change for gender; it only changes for number:
- mi amigo = my (male) friend
- mi amiga = my (female) friend
- mis amigos / mis amigas = my friends
So mi amiga tells you that the friend is female.
With family members and close people, Spanish normally uses possessive + noun without article:
- mi amiga = my friend
- mi madre = my mother
- mi hermano = my brother
Using an article (la mi amiga) is wrong in standard modern Spanish.
You can say la amiga if you mean the friend in a more generic sense, not “my friend”:
- La amiga de Juan = Juan’s friend
- Mi amiga = my friend
In Spanish, when one verb is followed directly by another verb, the second one normally stays in the infinitive form:
- querer + infinitive → quiere estudiar (wants to study)
- poder + infinitive → puede estudiar (can study)
- necesitar + infinitive → necesita estudiar (needs to study)
So:
- Mi amiga quiere estudiar = My friend wants to study.
Forms like quiere estudia are ungrammatical, and quiere que estudia is also wrong; if you use que, you need the subjunctive:
- Quiere que estudie = She wants her/him to study (someone else, not herself).
Spanish often uses the present tense to talk about current intentions or plans for the future:
- Mi amiga quiere estudiar… = My friend wants to study… (now / at the moment)
- Mañana voy al médico. = I’m going to the doctor tomorrow.
So quiere shows that right now she has the desire or plan; the studying, repairing, and working are future actions, but the wanting is present.
Para + infinitive usually expresses purpose or goal, similar to English “in order to” or simply “to”:
- Estudia para ser médica. = She studies to be a doctor.
- Trabaja para ganar dinero. = He works (in order) to earn money.
In the sentence:
- quiere estudiar para solucionar averías eléctricas
= she wants to study in order to fix electrical faults.
So para introduces the reason/purpose why she wants to study.
Yes. The para logically covers both infinitives that follow:
- quiere estudiar para solucionar averías eléctricas y trabajar en el pueblo
This is understood as:
- She wants to study in order to:
- solucionar averías eléctricas (fix electrical faults), and
- trabajar en el pueblo (work in the village/town).
You could repeat para (para solucionar… y para trabajar…) for extra clarity or emphasis, but it’s not necessary.
Both solucionar and arreglar can be translated as to fix, but there is a nuance:
- solucionar = to solve / to sort out / to resolve a problem.
- arreglar = to fix / repair something physical, or to sort something out.
With averías eléctricas (electrical faults) both are possible, but in Spain:
- solucionar averías eléctricas sounds a bit more technical / formal.
- arreglar averías eléctricas sounds a bit more colloquial / everyday.
Both are correct; the original sentence simply chose solucionar.
Avería is more specific than just “problem”. It normally means a breakdown or fault in a device, machine, vehicle, installation, etc.:
- avería del coche = car breakdown
- avería del ascensor = lift/elevator breakdown
- avería eléctrica = electrical fault
So averías eléctricas are electrical breakdowns / faults, usually in wiring, installations, or devices.
If you say just problemas (problems), it is more generic and less technical.
Here, averías eléctricas is used in a general, non-specific sense:
- solucionar averías eléctricas = to fix electrical faults in general.
When you talk about things in general, Spanish often uses a bare plural noun (no article):
- Arreglo coches. = I fix cars.
- Venden pisos. = They sell flats.
- Soluciona averías eléctricas. = He/she fixes electrical faults.
If you say las averías eléctricas, you are referring to specific faults that are known in the context:
- Quiere solucionar las averías eléctricas de la fábrica.
= She wants to fix the electrical faults in the factory (particular ones).
In Spanish, most descriptive adjectives come after the noun:
- averías eléctricas = electrical faults
- coche nuevo = new car
- casa grande = big house
So the normal order is noun + adjective.
Putting the adjective before the noun can change the nuance or sound poetic, so eléctricas averías would be unusual and marked; you should use averías eléctricas.
Adjectives in Spanish agree with the noun in gender and number:
- avería is feminine singular → avería eléctrica
- averías is feminine plural → averías eléctricas
So:
- singular: una avería eléctrica = an electrical fault
- plural: unas averías eléctricas = some electrical faults
If the noun were masculine, the adjective would change:
- un problema eléctrico (masc. sing.)
- unos problemas eléctricos (masc. pl.)
Pueblo has several meanings; here it means village/small town:
- trabajar en el pueblo = to work in the village / in the (small) town.
Other common meanings:
- el pueblo = the people (as a population)
- la voluntad del pueblo = the will of the people
- mi pueblo = my hometown (often a smaller place, not a big city)
So in this sentence, el pueblo is a specific place (her village or small town), not “the people”.
For specific places, Spanish usually uses the definite article:
- en la ciudad = in the city
- en el pueblo = in the village / town
- en el campo = in the countryside
Without article, en pueblo is not natural here. The article el indicates we are talking about a particular village/town that both speakers have in mind (likely her own).
Different prepositions change the meaning:
- trabajar en el pueblo = work in the village/town (location).
- trabajar para el pueblo = work for the people / for the village (serving them, on their behalf).
- trabajar por el pueblo = work for the benefit of the village/people (on its behalf, more abstract).
So en is about place, while para/por are about beneficiary or purpose.
The original sentence is simply saying where she wants to work, not for whom.
Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct and very natural:
- Mi amiga quiere estudiar y trabajar en el pueblo para solucionar averías eléctricas.
Now the structure suggests slightly more clearly:
- She wants to study and work in the village, and the purpose of these activities is to fix electrical faults.
In the original sentence:
- …quiere estudiar para solucionar averías eléctricas y trabajar en el pueblo.
you can still understand that the purpose is to be able to both fix faults and work in the village, but the focus is a bit more on studying in order to do those things later.
Both are fine; the difference is mostly one of emphasis and clarity, not basic meaning.