Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Mi profesora quiere ampliar el proyecto con otra idea interesante. - My teacher wants to expand the project with another interesting idea.

querer + infinitive
- Quiero comer. → I want to eat.
- Ella quiere ampliar el proyecto. → She wants to expand the project.
querer a + person (loving someone / having affection)
- Quiero a mi madre. → I love my mother.

So querer ampliar means to want to expand, not to love to expand or anything like that.

What tense is quiere? Does it talk about now or the future?

Quiere is the present indicative, 3rd person singular of querer:

(Ella) quiere = she wants

In Spanish, the present tense is often used to talk about:

Current desires or intentions
- Mi profesora quiere ampliar el proyecto.
  → My teacher wants to expand the project (now / in general).
Near-future plans, especially when combined with time expressions:
- Mi profesora quiere ampliar el proyecto mañana.
  → My teacher wants to expand the project tomorrow.

So it’s present tense, but it can easily imply a future action, just like in English:
“My teacher wants to expand the project (soon).”

Why do we say el proyecto and not un proyecto? Could I change it?

el proyecto = the project (a specific one, already known in the context)
un proyecto = a project (non‑specific, one of several possible projects)

In your sentence:

Mi profesora quiere ampliar el proyecto…
This implies both you and the listener already know which project you’re talking about (for example, a class project you’re all working on).

If you say:

Mi profesora quiere ampliar un proyecto con otra idea interesante.
This sounds like: My teacher wants to expand a project with another interesting idea — but we don’t know exactly which project; it’s just “some” project.

So yes, you can change el to un, but it changes the meaning from specific to non‑specific.

What exactly does ampliar mean here? Is it the same as expandir or añadir?

Ampliar means to make something bigger, broader, more extensive. In this context:

ampliar el proyecto ≈ to expand/develop the project further, often by adding content, scope, or depth.

Related verbs and their nuances:

añadir = to add (just adding something new)
- añadir una idea → add an idea
expandir = to expand, often more physical or technical (gases, markets, etc.), though it can be used with projects too
extender = to extend/spread (time, space, documents, etc.)

Here, ampliar el proyecto con otra idea interesante suggests:

Not only adding an idea,
But making the project bigger/richer thanks to that idea.

Many times ampliar is the most natural verb for projects, reports, topics, sections in a document, etc.

Why is it con otra idea interesante? Why use con and not de or something else?

In this sentence:

ampliar el proyecto con otra idea interesante
→ expand the project *with another interesting idea*

The preposition con expresses the means or instrument used to expand the project:
You are expanding by means of another interesting idea.

If you changed the preposition, it would sound wrong or change meaning:

❌ ampliar el proyecto de otra idea interesante → ungrammatical / unnatural
✅ ampliar el proyecto con otra idea interesante → correct and natural

So:

con = with, indicating what you use to expand the project (the extra idea).

Why is otra placed before idea, but interesante goes after? Could I say idea otra interesante?

In Spanish, most adjectives normally go after the noun:

idea interesante → literally “idea interesting”

But otra is a special kind of adjective (it expresses quantity/order, like “another / other”) and it almost always goes before the noun:

otra idea = another idea

So the natural order is:

otra idea interesante
- otra (before the noun)
- idea (noun)
- interesante (typical adjective, after the noun)

These orders are wrong or unnatural:

❌ idea otra interesante
❌ interesante otra idea (in normal speech)

Some common adjectives that usually go before the noun:
otro/otra, mucho, poco, cada, varios, primer/segundo, algún, ningún, buen, mal.

Adjectives of general description (like interesante, grande, pequeño, importante) usually go after the noun.

Why is interesante the same form for idea (feminine)? Shouldn’t it change?

Adjectives in Spanish agree in gender and number with the noun, but some adjectives have a single form for masculine and feminine.

idea is feminine: la idea
interesante is an adjective that ends in -e, and these usually have:
- same form for masculine and feminine
- different forms for singular and plural

So:

una idea interesante → feminine singular
un libro interesante → masculine singular
unas ideas interesantes → feminine plural
unos libros interesantes → masculine plural

The gender is shown by the article/noun (la idea, el libro), not by interesante itself.

Could I change the word order, like Mi profesora quiere ampliar con otra idea interesante el proyecto?

Technically this is grammatically possible, but it sounds less natural in everyday speech.

Most natural word order:

Mi profesora quiere ampliar el proyecto con otra idea interesante.

Alternative placing el proyecto at the end:

Mi profesora quiere ampliar, con otra idea interesante, el proyecto.
This is more formal or used for emphasis in writing.

Your suggested order:

Mi profesora quiere ampliar con otra idea interesante el proyecto.
→ Understandable, not wrong, but a bit awkward in normal conversation.

In general, for learners, it’s best to keep:

[subject] + [verb] + [direct object] + [extra information]
→ Mi profesora (subject)
→ quiere ampliar (verb phrase)
→ el proyecto (direct object)
→ con otra idea interesante (extra info: how/with what)

Can I replace el proyecto with a pronoun? How would that change the sentence?

Yes. El proyecto is a direct object, so you can replace it with lo (masculine singular pronoun).

Two common options:

Put lo before the conjugated verb:
- Mi profesora lo quiere ampliar con otra idea interesante.
Attach lo to the infinitive ampliar:
- Mi profesora quiere ampliarlo con otra idea interesante.

Both are correct and mean:

My teacher wants to expand it with another interesting idea.

In spoken Spanish, option 2 (ampliarlo) is very common and sounds very natural.

Is mi profesora the subject or the object in this sentence?

Mi profesora is the subject. She is the one doing (or wanting to do) the action.

Breakdown:

Mi profesora → subject (who wants to do something)
quiere ampliar → verb phrase (wants to expand)
el proyecto → direct object (what she wants to expand)
con otra idea interesante → prepositional phrase explaining how / with what

In Spain, would people ever say Mi profe instead of Mi profesora?

Yes. In Spain, profe is a very common, informal word for teacher (for both men and women):

Mi profe = my teacher (casual, friendly)

You could say:

Mi profe quiere ampliar el proyecto con otra idea interesante.

This sounds like something a student might say when talking to classmates or friends.
For more formal or written contexts, mi profesora / mi profesor is safer.