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La profesora explicó que el miércoles practicaríamos más si todos usábamos auriculares.

La profesora explicó que el miércoles practicaríamos más si todos usábamos auriculares.
The teacher explained that on Wednesday we would practice more if we all used headphones.
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Questions & Answers about La profesora explicó que el miércoles practicaríamos más si todos usábamos auriculares.

Why is it practicaríamos (conditional) and not practicaremos (future) after explicó que?

Because Spanish normally shows future-in-the-past with the conditional, not with the simple future.

  • What the teacher originally said (direct speech) was probably something like:

    • El miércoles practicaremos más si todos usamos / usáis / usáis auriculares.
      (On Wednesday we will practise more if we all use headphones.)

  • When we report that later in the past, Spanish tends to “backshift” the future to the conditional:

    • La profesora explicó que el miércoles practicaríamos más…
      (The teacher explained that on Wednesday we would practise more…)

So:

  • practicaremos = we will practise (future from now)
  • practicaríamos = we would practise (future seen from a past moment, i.e. “would” in reported speech)
Could we say practicábamos más instead of practicaríamos más? What’s the difference?

They mean different things:

  • practicábamos más (imperfect) suggests a habitual or repeated past action:

    • Los miércoles practicábamos más si todos usábamos auriculares.
      → Every Wednesday, we used to practise more, whenever we all used headphones.

  • practicaríamos más (conditional) expresses something planned / projected / hypothetical relative to that past moment:

    • La profesora explicó que el miércoles practicaríamos más si…
      → At that time, it was a plan or something that would happen under a condition.

In the original sentence, the teacher is announcing a plan for a future day (Wednesday) seen from the past, so the conditional is the natural choice.

Is si todos usábamos auriculares correct, or should it be si todos usáramos auriculares?

Both can be used, but they have different nuances, and usage varies a bit by region and by speaker.

  • si todos usábamos auriculares

    • Uses imperfect indicative (usábamos).
    • Often sounds slightly more factual / expected / part of the plan, as if the speaker sees the condition as realistic or almost taken for granted.
    • In everyday spoken Spanish (including Spain), many people use the indicative in si-clauses when the condition is seen as real or very probable in that context.

  • si todos usáramos auriculares

    • Uses imperfect subjunctive (usáramos).
    • Sounds more hypothetical or less certain.
    • It’s the classic “if … then we would …” structure you see in textbooks:
      • Practicaríamos más si todos usáramos auriculares.

In your specific sentence, usábamos fits a context where the teacher is explaining a plan she expects to be followed: “On Wednesday we would practise more, if (as long as) we were all using headphones.”
If the speaker wanted to stress that it’s more hypothetical or doubtful, usáramos would be more typical.

What exactly does todos refer to here? Could it be todas?

todos refers to all the people in the group (the students, possibly including the teacher, depending on context).

  • todos (masculine plural) is used:

    • when the group is mixed (men + women),
    • or when the gender is unknown,
    • or generically for a group of people.

  • todas (feminine plural) is used only when the group is entirely female and that is either known or being emphasised:

    • …si todas usábamos auriculares.
      → if all (the women) used headphones.

In most classroom contexts, todos is the default because the group is mixed or gender isn’t being specified.

Why is it el miércoles and not en el miércoles or just miércoles?

For days of the week, Spanish normally uses the definite article el without a preposition when you’re just talking about that day:

  • El miércoles practicaríamos más.
    → On Wednesday we would practise more.

Patterns:

  • el lunes, el martes, el miércoles… = on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday…
  • You don’t say en el miércoles to mean “on Wednesday”.

Just miércoles alone is used more like a label:

  • Miércoles practicamos más. – can sound like a timetable heading, a headline, or very informal speech.
  • Most of the time, the natural form in a full sentence is el miércoles.
Can the word order “el miércoles practicaríamos más” be changed? For example, “practicaríamos más el miércoles”?

Yes, both are correct, with only slight differences in emphasis:

  • La profesora explicó que el miércoles practicaríamos más…
    → Slightly stronger emphasis on el miércoles; it comes earlier, so the day is foregrounded.

  • La profesora explicó que practicaríamos más el miércoles si…
    → Slightly more focus on practicaríamos más, then you add el miércoles as extra information.

In everyday speech, both word orders are fine and very natural. Spanish word order is flexible as long as it stays clear and not too marked.

Why is it La profesora explicó and not La profesora dijo? What’s the difference?

Both verbs are possible but don’t mean exactly the same thing:

  • explicar = to explain, to make something clear, to give reasons or details.

    • La profesora explicó que el miércoles practicaríamos más…
      → She gave an explanation or more detailed information about what would happen on Wednesday.

  • decir = to say or tell, simply to report what someone said.

    • La profesora dijo que el miércoles practicaríamos más…
      → She stated that we would practise more on Wednesday (no special focus on explanation).

So explicó suggests she clarified, justified, or detailed the plan, not just stated it.

Should there be an indirect object pronoun like nos: “La profesora nos explicó que…”?

It’s optional here and depends on what you want to express.

  • La profesora explicó que…
    → Just states that she explained (in general); the indirect object (“to us”, “to the class”) is left understood from context.

  • La profesora nos explicó que…
    → Explicitly says she explained to us. The nos makes it clear that we (the speakers) were the ones who received the explanation.

Both are grammatically correct. In a real conversation where students are recounting what happened in their class, La profesora nos explicó que… is very common, because it clarifies who got the explanation.

What does auriculares mean exactly? Is this the usual word in Spain?

auriculares means headphones or earphones (anything you wear on or in your ears to listen to audio).

Usage notes:

  • In Spain, auriculares is the standard everyday word for headphones / earbuds.
  • In much of Latin America, a very common word is audífonos (also auriculares in some countries).

Singular vs plural:

  • un auricular = one earpiece (or one side), but in practice people almost always use the plural:
    • unos auriculares / los auriculares = the headphones.
Why does miércoles and practicaríamos have accents? How are they stressed?

They follow normal Spanish stress rules:

  1. miércoles

    • Written with an accent on the first syllable: MI-ér-co-les (3 syllables in practice: MIER-co-les).
    • Without the accent, the natural stress (for a word ending in s) would fall on the second-to-last syllable: mier-*CO-les*.
    • The accent mark moves the stress to the first syllable: MIÉR-co-les.

  2. practicaríamos

    • The accent is on -rí-: prac-ti-ca-RÍ-a-mos.
    • Ending in -mos (a vowel + s), the default stress would be on ca: prac-ti-*CA-ria-mos*.
    • The written accent shows that the stress is not on ca but on rí: prac-ti-ca-RÍ-a-mos.

Generally, accents are used:

  • to break the regular stress rule,
  • or to distinguish between words that otherwise would be spelled the same. Here, they simply mark the irregular stress position.