Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Tengo una cuenta privada en esa red social porque me preocupa mi seguridad. - I have a private account on that social network because my security worries me.

If you said Hay una cuenta privada en esa red social, you’d be saying There is a private account on that social network, without specifying that it belongs to you. That changes the meaning.

So tengo una cuenta privada correctly expresses I have / I own a private account.

Why is it una cuenta privada and not un cuenta privado?

Because cuenta is a feminine noun, and both the article and the adjective must agree in gender (and number) with it.

la cuenta → feminine
una cuenta → feminine singular article
privada → feminine singular form of the adjective privado/privada

So:

una cuenta privada ✅ (feminine + feminine)
un cuenta privado ❌ (masculine article + feminine noun + masculine adjective: all mismatched)

Why does the adjective come after the noun in cuenta privada?

In Spanish, adjectives usually come after the noun:

una casa grande – a big house
un coche nuevo – a new car
una cuenta privada – a private account

Adjectives can come before the noun, but that often adds a special nuance (emotional, figurative, subjective, etc.). For everyday, neutral descriptions like private account, Spanish normally prefers noun + adjective: cuenta privada.

What does red social literally mean, and why is it feminine?

red social literally means social network:

red = network (also net, web)
social = social

Red is a feminine noun: la red. That’s why you say:

la red social
esa red social
en esa red social

The adjective social is invariable for gender; the feminine marking is carried by the article and by red itself:

una red social (feminine)
un problema social (masculine)

Why is it en esa red social and not some other preposition like a or de?

Spanish uses en for:

in (inside something)
on (on a platform / site / network)
at (a place)

Here it’s like saying on that social network or in that social network, so en is the natural choice:

en esa red social – on/in that social network

A would suggest movement (to that social network), which isn’t intended here, and de (of that social network) would express possession or origin, also not the idea we want.

Why is it esa red social and not esta or aquella?

Spanish has three basic demonstratives:

esta – this (near the speaker)
esa – that (a bit further away or just not close to the speaker)
aquella – that over there (far from both speaker and listener, often more distant in space/time/context)

In practice:

esta red social – this social network (very present or being directly referred to, maybe on the screen right now)
esa red social – that social network (not “here”, maybe one you mentioned before)
aquella red social – that social network over there / back then (more distant, often somewhat remote or more abstract/old)

Using esa suggests it’s a network that has already been mentioned or is known from context, but isn’t being presented as particularly “close” to the speaker right now.

What exactly is happening grammatically with me preocupa mi seguridad?

Preocupar here behaves like gustar-type verbs:

me preocupa mi seguridad literally: my safety worries me
- mi seguridad = the grammatical subject (the thing doing the worrying)
- me = indirect object (the person affected)
- preocupa = 3rd person singular of preocupar, agreeing with mi seguridad

Compare:

Me gusta la música. – Music pleases me.
Me preocupa mi seguridad. – My safety worries me.

So you don’t say yo preocupo mi seguridad; you say mi seguridad me preocupa (standard: me preocupa mi seguridad).

What’s the difference between me preocupa mi seguridad and estoy preocupado por mi seguridad?

Both can be translated as I’m worried about my safety, but they focus differently:

Me preocupa mi seguridad
- Literally: My safety worries me
- Emphasizes the topic or cause (my safety) as something that causes concern.
- Sounds slightly more impersonal/neutral.
Estoy preocupado por mi seguridad
- Literally: I am worried about my safety
- Emphasizes your emotional state (I am worried).
- Slightly more emotional or personal in tone.

Both are very common and natural. In this context, porque me preocupa mi seguridad is a neat, compact way to express the reason without highlighting your emotional state as much as the issue itself.

Why is there a me in me preocupa? Could we just say preocupa mi seguridad?

The me tells us who is worried. Without it, you lose that information.

Me preocupa mi seguridad. – My safety worries me.
Le preocupa su seguridad. – His/her/their safety worries him/her/them.

If you say only Preocupa mi seguridad, it’s grammatically incomplete: it would mean something like It worries my safety, which doesn’t really make sense.

So the indirect object pronoun (me, te, le, nos, os, les) is essential with preocupar used this way.

Why is it mi seguridad and not la seguridad?

Both are possible, but they don’t mean exactly the same:

me preocupa mi seguridad – my own safety worries me
me preocupa la seguridad – safety in general worries me (e.g. security as a public issue)

Using mi specifies that it’s your personal safety, which fits very well with the context of having a private account on social media.

Is seguridad always feminine, and why?

Yes, seguridad is a feminine noun: la seguridad.

In Spanish, many nouns ending in -dad are feminine:

la ciudad – the city
la libertad – freedom
la verdad – truth
la seguridad – safety / security

So you say mi seguridad, la seguridad, esta seguridad, etc., always with feminine agreement where relevant.

Why is porque written as one word here, and not por qué or por que?

Spanish distinguishes several forms:

porque (one word) – because
- Used to introduce a reason: No salgo porque llueve.
por qué (two words, accent on qué) – why
- Used in questions: ¿Por qué no sales?
por que – rarer, appears in some fixed expressions and after certain prepositions/verbs (e.g. luchar por que).
el porqué (one word, noun) – the reason
- No entiendo el porqué.

In your sentence, it introduces the cause/reason (because I’m worried about my safety), so the correct form is porque.

Could the word order be porque mi seguridad me preocupa?

Yes, porque mi seguridad me preocupa is grammatically correct, but it’s less natural in everyday speech.

Typical, neutral order:

porque me preocupa mi seguridad

Reordering to mi seguridad me preocupa is possible, but it tends to sound more emphatic, poetic, or stylistic. In normal conversation or writing, you’d strongly prefer porque me preocupa mi seguridad.

Why isn’t the subject pronoun yo used before tengo?

In Spanish, subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, etc.) are often omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

tengo can only be I have (yo tengo)
tienes can only be you have (tú tienes), etc.

You only add yo for emphasis or contrast:

Yo tengo una cuenta privada, pero ella no.

In your sentence, Tener una cuenta privada… is clear without yo, so it’s left out, which is the most natural choice.