Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Cuando estoy cansado de leer, escucho un audiolibro en español. - When I am tired of reading, I listen to an audiobook in Spanish.

Estoy cansado = I am (feeling) tired right now / at this time (temporary state).
Soy cansado would sound like I am a tiring person or I am someone who tends to get tired easily (a kind of inherent trait), and is rarely used.

In this sentence, you’re talking about how you feel at certain times (when you’re tired of reading), so estar is correct: estoy cansado.

Why cansado and not cansada? Does the adjective have to agree with the speaker?

Yes. In Spanish, adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun or pronoun they describe.

Here, cansado refers to the implied subject yo (I).

If the speaker is male (or identifies with masculine grammar), they say estoy cansado.
If the speaker is female (or uses feminine grammar), they say estoy cansada.

So the sentence could be:

Cuando estoy cansado de leer, escucho un audiolibro en español. (speaker: grammatically masculine)
Cuando estoy cansada de leer, escucho un audiolibro en español. (speaker: grammatically feminine)

Why do we say cansado de leer and not just cansado leer?

Many adjectives in Spanish need the preposition de before an infinitive verb to express “tired *of doing something”, “happy about doing something”*, etc.

cansado de leer = tired of reading
contento de verte = happy to see you

Without de, cansado leer is ungrammatical. After cansado (in the sense “fed up with / tired of”), you must use de + infinitive:

Estoy cansado de leer. ✅
Estoy cansado leer. ❌

Could I say cansado de la lectura instead of cansado de leer?

You can say cansado de la lectura, but it sounds more formal and less natural in everyday speech.

cansado de leer = focused on the activity of reading (tired of reading).
cansado de la lectura = more like tired of reading as an activity / tired of reading in general, and sounds a bit bookish or abstract.

In normal conversation, cansado de leer is the most natural choice.

Why is escucho used instead of oigo?

Spanish distinguishes between:

oír – to hear (perceive sounds, often passively)
escuchar – to listen (pay attention deliberately)

In this sentence you are choosing to listen to an audiobook, so escuchar is the right verb:

escucho un audiolibro = I listen to an audiobook (on purpose).
oigo un ruido = I hear a noise (it reaches your ears).

Using oigo un audiolibro would sound odd, as if the audiobook is just playing in the background and you’re not really paying attention.

Why don’t we say yo: why is it Cuando estoy cansado… and not Cuando yo estoy cansado…?

In Spanish, subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, etc.) are often omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

estoy can only be yo (I am), so adding yo is usually unnecessary.

You can say:

Cuando yo estoy cansado de leer, escucho un audiolibro en español.

but in neutral, everyday Spanish (including in Spain) you normally drop yo unless you want to emphasize contrast, e.g.:

Cuando yo estoy cansado, paro. Ellos siguen.
When *I am tired, I stop. They keep going.*

Why is it un audiolibro and not el audiolibro?

In Spanish, as in English, using un vs el changes the meaning slightly:

un audiolibro = an audiobook, any audiobook, not a specific one already known.
el audiolibro = the audiobook, a specific one that both speaker and listener know about.

Here the sentence talks about a general habit: whenever I’m tired of reading, I listen to an audiobook (some audiobook). That’s why un (indefinite article) is used.

If you were talking about a particular, known book, you might say:

Cuando estoy cansado de leer, escucho el audiolibro que me recomendaste.
When I’m tired of reading, I listen to *the audiobook you recommended to me.*

Can I change the word order and say escucho en español un audiolibro or escucho un español audiolibro?

You can move en español, but not inside the noun phrase like in English.

Correct options include:

escucho un audiolibro en español (most natural)
escucho en español un audiolibro (also possible, slightly more emphasis on “in Spanish”)
en español escucho un audiolibro (less common, but grammatically fine)

What you cannot say is:

escucho un español audiolibro ❌ (adjectives for language don’t go before the noun like this, and español here is not an adjective but a noun meaning Spanish language)

Does en español describe the audiobook or the listening? What exactly does it modify?

In escucho un audiolibro en español, en español is understood to describe the language of the audiobook; that’s the default interpretation:

I listen to an audiobook *in Spanish (i.e. the audiobook is in Spanish).*

Technically, adverbially it attaches to the whole verb phrase, but by real-world logic and normal usage, it means the audiobook is in Spanish, not that you yourself are listening “in Spanish.”

Why is the present tense (escucho) used, instead of something like estoy escuchando?

Spanish often uses the simple present to talk about habits or repeated actions, much more than English does.

Cuando estoy cansado de leer, escucho un audiolibro en español.
= When I’m tired of reading, I (usually / generally) listen to an audiobook in Spanish.

If you said:

Cuando estoy cansado de leer, estoy escuchando un audiolibro en español.

it would sound strange, because cuando estoy cansado describes a condition that triggers the action; you want a habitual action after cuando, not a progressive action that’s already happening at exactly that moment.

The Spanish present progressive (estar + gerundio, e.g. estoy escuchando) is used for actions taking place right now, not for general habits.

Why is it cuando estoy (indicative) and not cuando esté (subjunctive)?

With cuando (when), Spanish uses:

Indicative (e.g. estoy) for actions/states that are habitual, factual, or seen as real.
Subjunctive (e.g. esté) for future, uncertain, or hypothetical situations.

In this sentence:

Cuando estoy cansado de leer, escucho un audiolibro en español.

you’re talking about a regular, real pattern in your life. So estoy (indicative) is correct.

Compare:

Cuando esté cansado de leer, escucharé un audiolibro en español.
When I’m tired of reading (at that future time), I’ll listen to an audiobook in Spanish.
– Here, esté is subjunctive because the tiredness is a future, not-yet-real situation.

Could I say me canso de leer instead of estoy cansado de leer? What’s the difference?

Yes, but the nuance changes slightly.

Estoy cansado de leer = I am tired of reading (focus on your current state).
Me canso de leer = I get tired of reading / I get fed up with reading (focus on the process of becoming tired).

Possible rephrasing:

Cuando me canso de leer, escucho un audiolibro en español.
When I get tired of reading, I listen to an audiobook in Spanish.

Both are natural.

Cuando estoy cansado de leer… focuses more on the moment when you are already tired.
Cuando me canso de leer… focuses on the moment you reach that point of tiredness.

Why isn’t español capitalized in en español?

In Spanish, names of languages are not capitalized, unlike in English.

English: Spanish, English, French
Spanish: español, inglés, francés

So en español is correctly written with a lowercase e.