Ayer grabamos una partida de ajedrez, y la profesora la usó en clase para explicar estrategias.

Yesterday we recorded a chess game, and the teacher used it in class to explain strategies.

Breakdown of Ayer grabamos una partida de ajedrez, y la profesora la usó en clase para explicar estrategias.

• una: a
• en: in
• para: to
• nosotros: we
• y: and
• usar: to use
• de: of
• la profesora: the teacher
• la clase: the class
• ayer: yesterday
• .: period
• la: it
• ,: comma
• explicar: to explain
• la partida: the game
• grabar: to record
• el ajedrez: the chess
• la estrategia: the strategy

Questions & Answers about Ayer grabamos una partida de ajedrez, y la profesora la usó en clase para explicar estrategias.

How do we know that grabamos here means “we recorded” (past) and not “we record” (present), since they look the same?

In regular -ar verbs, the 1st person plural (we) form of the present and preterite (simple past) is spelled the same:

• Present: grabamos = we record / we are recording
• Preterite: grabamos = we recorded

You tell the tense from context. The word ayer (yesterday) almost always triggers the preterite, so ayer grabamos can only be understood as “yesterday we recorded”, not “yesterday we record”.

What exactly does grabar mean here? Is it like to record a video?

Yes. In this sentence grabar means to record (audio or video):

• grabar una partida de ajedrez = to record a chess game (e.g. on video)

The verb grabar can also mean to engrave / etch, but in everyday modern contexts (phones, cameras, computers) it almost always means to record.

Why is it una partida de ajedrez and not un juego de ajedrez or un partido de ajedrez?

Spanish makes a distinction:

• partida (de ajedrez, de póker, de cartas…)

  • A single game/match of a board game or card game.
  • una partida de ajedrez = one (discrete) chess game.

• juego

  • More general: the game as an activity or concept.
  • el juego del ajedrez = the game of chess (as a whole, the activity).

• partido

  • Used mainly for sports matches: un partido de fútbol, un partido de baloncesto.
  • Not used for chess.

So una partida de ajedrez is the natural, idiomatic way to say a chess game (one game) in Spanish.

In la profesora la usó, what do the two la’s refer to? Why are there two of them?

They are two different words:

• la profesora: la is the feminine singular definite article = the
  → la profesora = the (female) teacher

• la usó: la is a direct object pronoun = it (feminine)
  Here it refers back to una partida (de ajedrez), which is feminine.

So:

• Ayer grabamos una partida de ajedrez
• y la profesora la usó en clase…
  = and the teacher used it in class… (it = the recorded game).

Why does the direct object pronoun la come before usó instead of after, like in English “used it”?

In Spanish, unstressed object pronouns (lo, la, los, las, le, les, etc.) normally go before a conjugated verb:

• La usó en clase. = She used it in class.

Only when the verb is in infinitive, gerund, or an affirmative command can the pronoun be attached to the end:

• Usarla en clase fue útil. (To use it in class was useful.)
• Está usándola en clase. (She is using it in class.)
• Úsala en clase. (Use it in class.)

But with a simple past form like usó, the pronoun must go before: la usó.

Could we say La profesora usó la partida en clase instead of La profesora la usó en clase? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

• La profesora usó la partida en clase.

Both sentences are grammatically correct and natural. The difference is subtle:

• Usó la partida: repeats the full noun; a bit more explicit and clear if the context is not fresh.
• La usó: avoids repetition and is more fluent; it assumes the listener still knows that la = la partida.

In normal conversation, once una partida has been mentioned, Spanish speakers would very often switch to the pronoun: la usó.

Why is it en clase and not en la clase? Are both correct?

Both en clase and en la clase are grammatically correct, but they feel slightly different:

• en clase

  • Very common, somewhat more general.
  • Means in class / during class, without specifying which particular class session.

• en la clase

  • Refers more to a specific class or lesson: in the (particular) class.
  • Can also emphasize the physical classroom in some contexts.

In this sentence, en clase sounds natural and idiomatic: she used it in class (as part of teaching).

Why is it para explicar estrategias and not para explicar las estrategias?

Both are possible, but they have a slight nuance difference:

• para explicar estrategias

  • More general: to explain strategies (in general).
  • Sounds like she used the game as material to talk about different types of strategies.

• para explicar las estrategias

  • Feels more specific: to explain the strategies (certain particular ones already known in the context).
  • Could imply there was a set of specific strategies they were focusing on.

In teaching contexts, dropping the article (explicar estrategias) is common when speaking about types or categories in general.

Why is it la profesora and not la maestra in Spain? Is there a difference?

In Spain:

• profesor / profesora

  • Used for teachers at almost all levels: secondary school, high school, university.
  • Also acceptable for primary school teachers.

• maestro / maestra

  • Traditionally associated with primary / elementary school teachers.
  • Sounds a bit more old-fashioned or formal in some areas, though it is not wrong.

In everyday Peninsular Spanish, la profesora is the most neutral and common way to say the female teacher, especially if we don’t know the exact level she teaches.

If the teacher were male, would anything in La profesora la usó change besides profesora? Does the pronoun la depend on the gender of the teacher?

The pronoun depends on the gender of the noun it replaces, not on the gender of the person doing the action.

• una partida (de ajedrez) is feminine, so we must use la as the direct object pronoun: la usó.

If the teacher were male, only the subject would change:

• El profesor la usó en clase.
  (The male teacher used it in class.)

We keep la because la still refers to la partida, which is feminine.