Breakdown of Antes de la boda, haremos un pequeño ensayo con el coro para practicar la música romántica.
Questions & Answers about Antes de la boda, haremos un pequeño ensayo con el coro para practicar la música romántica.
Antes on its own is an adverb, but when it’s followed by a noun it normally needs de:
- antes de la boda = before the wedding
- antes de la cena = before dinner
Antes la boda is ungrammatical. You either say:
- antes de + noun → antes de la boda
- antes de que + verb → antes de que empiece la boda (before the wedding starts)
Both can describe a time before the wedding, but grammatically they’re different:
antes de la boda
- de + noun
- Literal: before the wedding (treats the wedding as an event/thing)
antes de que nos casemos
- de que + verb (a whole clause)
- Requires the subjunctive (nos casemos, not nos casamos)
- Literal: before we get married
Use antes de + noun when you just mention an event. Use antes de que + subjunctive when you mention an action/situation as a clause.
In Spanish, haremos (simple future) is natural for talking about planned future actions:
- haremos un pequeño ensayo = we will do / we’ll have a little rehearsal
You could also say:
- vamos a hacer un pequeño ensayo – very common in conversation, similar to “we’re going to do…”
- hacemos un pequeño ensayo antes de la boda – present used with a future meaning, especially if it’s part of a fixed schedule (more common in timetables, programs, etc.).
All three are possible, but haremos sounds neutral and slightly more formal/planned, which fits a sentence about wedding preparations.
Ensayo has two main meanings:
Rehearsal / practice run (for music, theatre, ceremonies, etc.)
- un ensayo con el coro = a rehearsal with the choir
Essay (a written text, usually non-fiction)
- un ensayo filosófico = a philosophical essay
Here, because it’s with el coro and música romántica, the context clearly points to meaning 1: rehearsal. The word itself is the same; the meaning depends on context.
In Spanish, many adjectives normally go after the noun, but some common ones can go before to add nuance. Pequeño is one of these.
un pequeño ensayo
- Slightly more emotional or subjective; can sound softer, more natural here (like “a little rehearsal”).
un ensayo pequeño
- More literal, focusing on physical size or amount (a small-sized rehearsal), and sounds a bit odd in this context.
So un pequeño ensayo is the usual, idiomatic way to say “a small / brief rehearsal.”
In Spanish, when you refer to a specific group like the choir that will sing at the wedding, you normally use the definite article:
- con el coro = with the choir (a specific choir)
con coro without the article would sound incomplete or very unusual here. You drop the article mostly in certain set expressions or after some prepositions with abstract/un-countable nouns, but not in this case.
Coro generally covers both English choir and chorus:
- coro = a group of singers who perform together (church choir, school choir, wedding choir, etc.)
In this sentence, con el coro is best translated as with the choir. Context decides whether you’d say “choir” or “chorus” in English, but Spanish just uses coro.
Para is used to express purpose or goal:
- para practicar la música romántica = in order to practice the romantic music
Compare:
para → purpose / objective
- Hacemos un ensayo para practicar. = We do a rehearsal in order to practice.
por → reason / cause / motive / exchange, etc.
- Hacemos un ensayo por ellos. = We do a rehearsal because of them / for their sake.
Here, the rehearsal has the goal of practicing the music, so para is correct.
Both are possible, but they have a slightly different nuance:
practicar la música romántica
- Suggests specific music already known to the speakers: the romantic music (we’ve prepared).
- The definite article la points to particular pieces/songs.
practicar música romántica
- More general: to practice romantic music (as a type/genre).
In the context of a wedding, la música romántica sounds like the planned set of romantic songs for the ceremony.
In Spanish, most adjectives go after the noun:
- la música romántica = romantic music
Putting the adjective before the noun (romántica música) is grammatically possible but stylistically very marked or poetic; it’s not normal everyday speech. In a neutral sentence like this, you should use música romántica.
In everyday modern Spanish:
- música romántica usually means music about love / sentimental music, like romantic ballads.
If you want to be specific about the historical Romantic period in classical music, you’d normally clarify:
- música del Romanticismo
- música romántica del siglo XIX, etc.
In the context of a wedding, música romántica almost certainly means love songs / romantic-sounding music, not a strict musicological period.
Yes, that’s grammatically correct too:
- haremos un pequeño ensayo con el coro para practicar la música romántica
- haremos un pequeño ensayo para practicar la música romántica con el coro
Both mean the same. The original version groups ensayo with con el coro, emphasizing the rehearsal is with the choir. The alternative groups música romántica with con el coro, slightly emphasizing that it’s the choir that will perform the romantic music. The difference is subtle; both are fine.
Yes, note the stress and the written accent:
- boda → BO‑da (stress on the first syllable)
- ensayo → en‑SA‑yo (stress on the middle syllable)
- coro → CO‑ro (stress on the first syllable)
- música → MÚ‑si‑ca (stress on MÚ, marked by the accent)
The accent in música is necessary; without it (musica) the stress would wrongly fall on si (mu‑SI‑ca).