Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Cuando era niña, leer cómics era solo un pasatiempo; ahora también es parte de mis estudios de filosofía. - When I was a girl, reading comics was just a hobby; now it’s also part of my philosophy studies.

Cuando era niña ≈ “When I was a little girl / when I was a child (in general, over a period of time).”
Cuando fui niña would sound odd; fui suggests a single completed event, not a whole stage of life.

So, for things like being a child, being a student, living somewhere, etc., Spanish almost always uses the imperfect: era.

Why is there no yo in Cuando era niña?

In Spanish, subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, ella…) are usually dropped because the verb ending already shows the person:

era could be yo era, él era, ella era…
But niña is feminine, so the listener infers: “When I (a woman) was a girl…”

You could say Cuando yo era niña, but yo is only added for emphasis or contrast (e.g. Cuando yo era niña, no había móviles).

Why is it niña (without una) and not una niña?

Both are possible, but they feel slightly different:

Cuando era niña – very natural; it talks about that life stage in general: “when I was (a) child / when I was young.”
Cuando era una niña – also correct, but it sounds a bit more specific or storytelling-like, as if you’re picturing a particular moment or period.

In everyday Spanish, people very often omit una in life-stage expressions:
Cuando era niño, cuando era estudiante, cuando era joven, etc.

Why is leer cómics (the infinitive) used instead of something like cuando leía cómics?

Here leer cómics is functioning as a noun phrase, the subject of the verb era:

Leer cómics era solo un pasatiempo
→ “Reading comics was just a hobby.”

Spanish often uses the infinitive as a subject or object, much like English uses -ing:

Fumar es malo – “Smoking is bad.”
Leer cómics era solo un pasatiempo – “Reading comics used to be just a hobby.”

If you said Cuando leía cómics, era solo un pasatiempo, you’d change the structure and focus: now leía is the main verb, and era solo un pasatiempo is commenting on that activity. The given sentence instead names the activity leer cómics as a thing (a hobby).

Why is it leer cómics era and not leer cómics eran?

The grammatical subject is the whole phrase leer cómics, which is singular (an activity):

Subject: leer cómics (reading comics) → singular idea.
Verb: era (3rd person singular) to agree with that.

Even though cómics is plural, it’s inside the subject phrase headed by the infinitive leer, so the subject is “the act of reading comics,” not “comics” themselves.

Why is era solo un pasatiempo and not fue solo un pasatiempo?

Again this is imperfect (era) vs. preterite (fue):

era solo un pasatiempo – describes a repeated or ongoing situation in the past: “it used to be just a hobby.”
fue solo un pasatiempo – would sound more like “it was just a hobby (once / at that particular time).”

For long-lasting habits, states, or “back then in general,” Spanish prefers the imperfect: era.

Why is solo written without an accent? I thought sólo was “only”.

Modern standard spelling (RAE) is:

solo = “only” (adverb) and “alone” (adjective), usually without an accent.
The accent sólo is now considered unnecessary in almost all cases and is generally discouraged.

So solo un pasatiempo is the normal modern spelling.
Older texts and some writers still use sólo for “only,” but you don’t need to, especially in current European Spanish.

Is cómics the standard plural of cómic in Spain?

Yes. In European Spanish:

Singular: un cómic
Plural: unos cómics

You may also see comic/comics without accent in informal writing, but the recommended spelling is cómic / cómics because the stress is on the first syllable.

Could I replace the semicolon with a comma or a conjunction? Why a semicolon here?

The semicolon ; joins two closely related but independent clauses:

Cuando era niña, leer cómics era solo un pasatiempo; ahora también es parte de mis estudios de filosofía.

You could write instead:

…, pero ahora también es parte de mis estudios de filosofía.
…; sin embargo, ahora también es parte de mis estudios de filosofía.

A simple comma without a linking word (…, ahora también es parte…) is generally seen as a comma splice in careful writing, so the semicolon is a clean way to connect them without adding a conjunction.

Why is it ahora también es parte… and not ahora es también parte…? Does the word order change the meaning?

Both orders are grammatically correct:

ahora también es parte de mis estudios…
ahora es también parte de mis estudios…

The difference is subtle and mostly about rhythm/emphasis:

ahora también es parte… sounds very natural; también is closely tied to es parte.
ahora es también parte… can slightly highlight también (“now it is also part…”), but not a big change.

In everyday speech, ahora también es… is more common and flows better.

Why parte de mis estudios and not parte en mis estudios or una parte de mis estudios?

The normal pattern in Spanish is ser parte de algo:
es parte de mis estudios, es parte de mi vida, etc.
parte en is not used in this sense.
You could say es una parte de mis estudios, but es parte de mis estudios is more concise and very natural.

So es parte de mis estudios is the standard, idiomatic structure.

Why de filosofía and not de la filosofía or en filosofía?

When talking about a field of study or academic subject in a general sense, Spanish usually omits the article:

mis estudios de filosofía, de medicina, de derecho, de historia, etc.

De la filosofía would sound like you’re referring to “the philosophy” as a specific body of philosophical thought, not just the degree/field.

en filosofía is possible in some contexts (for example: tengo un doctorado en filosofía), but with estudios, de filosofía is the normal collocation: mis estudios de filosofía = “my philosophy studies / my studies in philosophy.”

Does niña mean the speaker has to be female? What would change if the speaker were male?

Yes, niña is the feminine form; it tells us the speaker is female.

If the speaker were male, the sentence would be:

Cuando era niño, leer cómics era solo un pasatiempo; ahora también es parte de mis estudios de filosofía.

Everything else stays the same; only niña → niño changes to match the speaker’s gender.