Breakdown of En el portal del estudiante puedo descargar mi horario y cambiar mi contraseña.
Questions & Answers about En el portal del estudiante puedo descargar mi horario y cambiar mi contraseña.
In Spanish, the preposition de + the masculine singular article el always contracts to del:
- de + el = del
So de el estudiante is grammatically wrong here; it must be del estudiante.
This contraction happens almost every time, except in special cases like proper names where El is part of the name (e.g. de El Salvador).
Even though estudiante is singular, el portal del estudiante usually means the student portal in a general way: the portal for students.
Spanish often uses the singular with a generic meaning:
- El coche es caro. → Cars are expensive (in general).
- El estudiante debe estudiar. → Students should study (in general).
You could also see:
- el portal de estudiantes
- el portal de los estudiantes
Those are possible, but sound more like a descriptive phrase. Portal del estudiante feels more like an official name or label.
In Spanish, subject pronouns (yo, tú, él…) are usually omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is:
- (Yo) puedo descargar… → puedo already tells us it’s yo (I).
You add yo mainly for emphasis or contrast:
- Yo puedo descargar mi horario, pero ella no puede.
I can download my timetable, but she can’t.
So in your sentence, leaving out yo is the most natural version.
Yes, you can. Both are correct:
- En el portal del estudiante puedo descargar mi horario…
- Puedo descargar mi horario en el portal del estudiante…
The difference is nuance:
- Starting with En el portal del estudiante sets the place as the context first: “On the student portal, I can…”
- Starting with Puedo descargar focuses first on the action: “I can download my timetable on the student portal.”
Grammatically, both are equally correct; it’s just a matter of emphasis and style.
In Spanish, when poder is followed by another verb, that second verb must be in the infinitive form:
- puedo descargar (I can download)
- puede cambiar (he/she can change)
- podemos entrar (we can enter)
You cannot conjugate both verbs:
- ❌ puedo descargo
- ✅ puedo descargar
The pattern is: [poder (conjugated)] + [infinitive].
Both are possible:
- En el portal del estudiante puedo descargar mi horario y cambiar mi contraseña.
- En el portal del estudiante puedo descargar mi horario y puedo cambiar mi contraseña.
In Spanish, when two verbs share the same subject and the same auxiliary (poder, in this case), you usually don’t repeat the auxiliary:
- Puedo descargar mi horario y cambiar mi contraseña.
Repeating puedo is not wrong; it just sounds more emphatic or slightly more formal/redundant in everyday speech.
Descargar in tech/internet contexts means to download (a file, document, etc.).
In Spain:
- descargar un archivo = download a file
- bajar un archivo = also means download; it’s more colloquial.
You could say:
- Puedo descargar mi horario…
- Puedo bajar mi horario…
Both are understood. Descargar is a bit more standard/technical; bajar sounds more informal.
Horario usually means timetable / schedule, often of repeating events:
- Class schedule
- Train timetable
- Work shifts
Rough guide:
- horario → schedule/timetable (e.g. class hours, train times)
- calendario → calendar (dates, months, holidays)
- agenda → planner/diary (where you note appointments)
So mi horario here is specifically your class timetable or your schedule of classes.
Contraseña is the standard word for password in Spain, especially for websites or logins:
- cambiar mi contraseña → change my password
Clave can also mean key/password in some contexts (e.g. clave de acceso), and is more common in some regions or in specific systems (bank codes, etc.).
In Spain, for a university student portal, contraseña is the most natural and expected word.
Both can appear in similar contexts, but they focus on different ideas:
en el portal del estudiante puedo descargar…
Emphasizes where/through what platform you can do the action: on the student portal.desde el portal del estudiante puedo descargar…
Emphasizes the starting point for the action: from the student portal I can start the download.
In everyday usage, en el portal is very common for websites/platforms when talking about what you can do there. Desde would also be understandable but is slightly less neutral here.