En agosto quiero viajar con mi familia a un hotel cerca del mar.

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Questions & Answers about En agosto quiero viajar con mi familia a un hotel cerca del mar.

Why is it en agosto and not in agosto or a agosto?

Spanish uses en to talk about months, seasons, and general time periods, where English uses in.

  • En agosto = in August
  • en verano = in summer
  • en 2025 = in 2025

You would not use a here; a is mostly for movement/direction (to), time on the clock (a las tres), or some indirect objects.

So En agosto quiero viajar… literally is In August I want to travel… and that’s the normal, correct preposition.

Why don’t we say en el agosto? Why is there no article with the month?

With months, Spanish usually doesn’t use the definite article when you’re speaking in general:

  • En agosto hace calor. = In August it’s hot.
  • En septiembre empezamos el curso.

You can see the article with months in some contexts, but it changes the nuance:

  • En el agosto de 1998… = In the August of 1998… (very specific)
  • El agosto pasado… = last August

In your sentence, you’re speaking generally about August, so en agosto (no article) is standard.

Could I leave out en and just say Agosto quiero viajar…?

No, that would be wrong or at least sound very strange in standard Spanish.

You need en before the month when you’re saying when something happens:

  • En agosto quiero viajar…
  • En diciembre vamos a celebrar…

If you drop en, Agosto quiero viajar… sounds like “August I want to travel…”, which is not the normal structure in Spanish.

Why is it quiero viajar and not viajo or viajaré?

All three are possible, but they’re not the same:

  • Quiero viajar = I want to travel.
    Focus on your desire/intention.
  • Viajo en agosto = I travel / I’m travelling in August.
    Sounds more like a plan, reservation, or scheduled action.
  • Viajaré en agosto = I will travel in August.
    Simple future; in many everyday contexts sounds a bit more formal or distant.

In your sentence, you’re expressing what you want to do, so quiero viajar is the natural choice.

Why do we use the infinitive viajar after quiero instead of quiero viajo?

In Spanish, verbs like querer, poder, necesitar, deber, saber (hacer algo) are typically followed by an infinitive:

  • Quiero viajar = I want to travel
  • Puedo nadar = I can swim
  • Necesito estudiar = I need to study

Saying quiero viajo would be like saying “I want I travel” in English; the second verb must stay in the infinitive form: quiero viajar.

Why is there no yo? Could I say En agosto yo quiero viajar…?

You can include yo, but you don’t need it.

Spanish verb endings already show the subject:

  • quiero = I want (yo)
  • queremos = we want (nosotros)

So En agosto quiero viajar… is already clearly “I want to travel in August.”

If you say En agosto yo quiero viajar…, you usually add emphasis or contrast:

  • En agosto yo quiero viajar, pero mi pareja no puede. (In August *I want to travel, but my partner can’t.*)

For a neutral statement, it’s more natural without yo.

Why is it con mi familia and not con mis familia?

Familia is singular in Spanish, even though it refers to several people.

So:

  • mi familia = my family (one family → singular)
  • mis familias = my families (more than one family)

That’s why you say:

  • con mi familia (correct)
  • con mis familia (incorrect: plural possessive with singular noun)
Why don’t we say something like con mi familia mía? In English we might say “my own family”.

Spanish normally doesn’t double the possessive like that. You choose either:

  • mi familia
    or
  • la familia mía

You don’t combine both: mi familia mía is wrong.

To emphasize “my own family,” you can use:

  • con mi propia familia = with my own family
  • con mi familia, la mía, no la tuya (more contrastive, spoken style)
Why is it a un hotel and not en un hotel?

Here, a shows movement toward a destination:

  • viajar a un hotel = travel to a hotel
  • ir a un hotel = go to a hotel

If you used en, it would describe location, not destination:

  • Quiero estar en un hotel. = I want to be in a hotel.
  • Voy a dormir en un hotel. = I’m going to sleep in a hotel.

So with viajar, you’re focusing on where you travel to, so a un hotel is correct.

Why is it un hotel and not el hotel?

Un hotel is indefinite: a hotel, any hotel, not a specific one.

  • Quiero viajar a un hotel cerca del mar.
    = I want to travel to a hotel near the sea (you haven’t specified which).

El hotel would normally refer to a specific hotel the listener already knows about:

  • Quiero viajar al hotel de siempre.
    (I want to travel to the usual hotel.)

So in your neutral, general sentence, un hotel is the natural choice.

Why is it cerca del mar and not cerca de el mar?

In Spanish, the preposition de + the masculine article el always contracts to del:

  • de + el = del
    • cerca del mar (not cerca de el mar)
    • el libro del profesor (from de el profesor)

But this only happens with de + el, not with la, los, las:

  • cerca de la casa (no contraction)
  • cerca de los coches
  • cerca de las montañas
Is mar always masculine? I’ve seen la mar as well.

In normal, everyday modern Spanish, mar is masculine:

  • el mar, del mar, cerca del mar

La mar does exist, but it’s:

  • poetic or literary
  • used in some dialects (e.g. by some sailors, fishermen, or in older-style speech)

In standard neutral Spanish, especially in Spain, you should say:

  • el mar
  • cerca del mar
Could I change the word order, like Quiero viajar en agosto con mi familia a un hotel cerca del mar? Is that still correct?

Yes, that version is also correct and very natural:

  • En agosto quiero viajar con mi familia…
  • Quiero viajar en agosto con mi familia…

Both work. Spanish word order here is quite flexible, and the basic meaning doesn’t change. Moving en agosto to the beginning can give it a tiny bit more emphasis (focusing first on when), but in normal conversation both orders are fine.

Does familia count as singular or plural for agreement? For example, after mi familia, would the verb be singular or plural?

Familia is grammatically singular:

  • Mi familia es muy grande. (not son)

So with verbs and adjectives, you use singular agreement:

  • Mi familia está de vacaciones.
  • Toda mi familia está contenta.

If you want to emphasize the people individually, you often rephrase:

  • Mis padres y mis hermanos están de vacaciones.
  • Mi familia y yo estamos de vacaciones.