Breakdown of Cuando estoy cansada de estudiar biología, leo un cómic y sigo ampliando mi pasatiempo de coleccionar historias divertidas.
Questions & Answers about Cuando estoy cansada de estudiar biología, leo un cómic y sigo ampliando mi pasatiempo de coleccionar historias divertidas.
Cansada agrees in gender with the person speaking.
- In Spanish, adjectives must match the gender and number of the noun or pronoun they describe.
- The implied subject of the sentence is yo (I), and the speaker is assumed to be female, so:
- Yo estoy cansada = I am tired (said by a woman).
- Yo estoy cansado = I am tired (said by a man).
If a man were saying the sentence, it would be:
Cuando estoy cansado de estudiar biología, leo un cómic…
Both are correct, but they sound slightly different:
Cuando estoy cansada de estudiar biología…
- Focuses on your state: when I am tired of studying biology.
- Describes a condition at a certain moment.
Cuando me canso de estudiar biología…
- Focuses on the process: when I get tired of studying biology.
- Emphasizes the moment you reach that tiredness.
In many everyday contexts, they’re almost interchangeable, and both would be understood as a habitual situation: Whenever I (get) tired of studying biology, I read a comic…
With cansado/a, the normal preposition before an infinitive is de:
- estar cansado/a de + infinitive
- Estoy cansada de estudiar. = I’m tired of studying.
- Está cansado de trabajar. = He is tired of working.
Por after cansado/a would change the meaning:
- Estoy cansada por estudiar tanto.
- This sounds more like “I’m tired because of studying so much” (emphasizing cause).
In your sentence, the idea is fed up with / tired of doing something, so de estudiar biología is the natural choice in Spain.
When talking about academic subjects in a general sense, Spanish usually does not use the definite article:
- Estudio biología. = I study biology.
- Estudia medicina. = She studies medicine.
- Quiero aprender inglés. = I want to learn English.
You would use la biología when you’re talking about biology as a field/concept, not as a subject you’re studying:
- La biología es una ciencia fascinante. = Biology is a fascinating science.
So in your sentence, estudiar biología (without article) is the normal, idiomatic way.
Because here the speaker is describing a habit, not a specific action happening right now.
Leo un cómic = I read a comic / I (usually) read a comic.
- Present simple in Spanish is often used for general habits or routines, just like in English.
Estoy leyendo un cómic = I am reading a comic (right now / at this moment).
- Present progressive (estar + gerundio) usually refers to something in progress at this time.
The structure Cuando estoy cansada de…, leo un cómic… clearly describes what she tends to do whenever she feels tired, so leo (present simple) is the natural tense.
Yes, un cómic is very common and natural in Spain.
Details:
- cómic
- The most standard term nowadays for a comic book or comic story.
- Plural: cómics.
- Stressed on the first syllable, hence the accent mark: có-mic.
Other options you may see in Spain:
- un tebeo
- More informal / traditional term, especially for children’s comics.
- Very common in Spain, less so in Latin America.
- manga
- Specifically for Japanese comics.
In your sentence, leo un cómic is completely normal and natural for Spain.
Seguir + gerundio is a very common structure meaning “to keep / continue doing something.”
- seguir = to continue, to keep on.
- ampliando = gerund of ampliar (to expand, enlarge, broaden).
So:
- sigo ampliando mi pasatiempo… ≈ “I keep expanding my hobby…” / “I continue expanding my hobby…”
General pattern:
- Sigo estudiando. = I keep studying / I’m still studying.
- Seguimos trabajando. = We keep working / We’re still working.
- Sigue lloviendo. = It’s still raining.
In your sentence, sigo ampliando expresses continuity: you don’t just read one comic; by doing so, you continue to expand something (here, your hobby or collection).
From a strictly semantic point of view, it’s more usual to expand a collection than to expand a hobby. So many native speakers might find these alternatives more natural:
- …y sigo ampliando mi colección de historias divertidas.
- “…and I keep expanding my collection of funny stories.”
- …y sigo con mi pasatiempo de coleccionar historias divertidas.
- “…and I continue with my hobby of collecting funny stories.”
However, sigo ampliando mi pasatiempo is not wrong; it just sounds a bit more abstract or stylistic, as if your whole hobby is growing or becoming richer. In everyday speech, ampliar la colección would usually feel more concrete and idiomatic.
Both structures are grammatically correct; they just have different shapes and slightly different focuses.
mi pasatiempo de coleccionar historias divertidas
- Literally: “my hobby of collecting funny stories.”
- de + infinitive acts like a descriptor of the hobby.
- Similar to English: my habit of reading, my hobby of collecting.
Mi pasatiempo es coleccionar historias divertidas.
- Literally: “My hobby is collecting funny stories.”
- Uses ser to define what the hobby consists of.
In natural Spanish, the second version is very common and often clearer:
- Mi pasatiempo es coleccionar historias divertidas.
- Mi afición es coleccionar historias divertidas.
The original mi pasatiempo de coleccionar… is acceptable but slightly heavier stylistically; learners often find Mi pasatiempo es + infinitive easier and more transparent.
Grammatically, you can say it, but in this context it sounds odd.
In Spanish, when talking about something that clearly belongs to you (your hobby, your house, your body parts, etc.), you usually keep the possessive:
- mi pasatiempo
- mi afición
- mi colección
Using el pasatiempo (the hobby) without mi makes it sound less personal, almost as if it’s some generic or previously defined hobby that’s not clearly yours.
So here, mi pasatiempo de coleccionar historias divertidas (or better: mi colección de historias divertidas) sounds much more natural than el pasatiempo de….
In Spanish, the default order is:
noun + adjective
historias divertidas
Putting the adjective after the noun usually gives:
- a more neutral, objective description.
- no special emphasis.
You can say divertidas historias, but:
- It sounds more literary or expressive.
- It can subtly change the feel to something like “such fun stories” / “really amusing stories,” often with a bit of emotional or stylistic emphasis.
For a neutral sentence like yours, historias divertidas (noun + adjective) is the standard and most natural choice.
Both are often translated as “funny stories” in English, but there’s a nuance:
divertidas
- from divertir (to entertain).
- Emphasizes that the stories are entertaining, enjoyable, fun.
- They might be funny, exciting, or just pleasant.
graciosas
- from gracia (wit/grace).
- Emphasizes that the stories are amusing or make you laugh.
- More focused on humor.
In many contexts they overlap, and a Spaniard might use either. In your sentence:
- historias divertidas = fun/entertaining stories (possibly humorous).
- historias graciosas = stories that are specifically funny/amusing.
Both are fine; which one you choose depends on whether you want to stress entertainment in general (divertidas) or humor/laughter (graciosas).