Mi amiga lleva siempre una bufanda roja en invierno.

My friend always wears a red scarf in winter.

Breakdown of Mi amiga lleva siempre una bufanda roja en invierno.

• una: a
• en: in
• mi: my
• siempre: always
• la amiga: the friend
• el invierno: the winter
• la bufanda: the scarf
• rojo: red
• llevar: to spend (time)

Questions & Answers about Mi amiga lleva siempre una bufanda roja en invierno.

What exactly does lleva mean here? Why not usa or tiene?

In this sentence, lleva comes from llevar, which very often means “to wear” when talking about clothes or accessories.

• Mi amiga lleva una bufanda roja.
  → My friend wears / has on a red scarf.

Other options:

• usar = to use. You can say usa una bufanda roja, but for clothing/accessories llevar is much more common and natural in Spain.
• tener = to have / to own.
  Mi amiga tiene una bufanda roja means she owns one, not that she’s wearing it.

So llevar is the normal verb to talk about what someone is wearing at a given time or habitually.

Why is it lleva siempre and not siempre lleva? Are both correct?

Both are correct. Spanish is flexible with adverb placement.

• Mi amiga siempre lleva una bufanda roja en invierno.
• Mi amiga lleva siempre una bufanda roja en invierno.

Both mean the same: “My friend always wears a red scarf in winter.”

Very common positions for siempre:

• before the verb: siempre lleva
• between subject and verb: Mi amiga siempre lleva
• after the conjugated verb: lleva siempre

All sound natural in this case. If anything, Mi amiga siempre lleva… is probably the most frequent everyday word order.

Could you put siempre at the end, like …en invierno siempre?

You can, but it sounds less natural here and can feel a bit “tagged on”:

• Mi amiga lleva una bufanda roja en invierno siempre.

This is grammatically possible, but native speakers are more likely to say:

• Mi amiga siempre lleva una bufanda roja en invierno.
• Mi amiga lleva siempre una bufanda roja en invierno.

So, avoid putting siempre all the way at the end unless you have a special emphasis or rhythm in mind.

Why is it una bufanda and not just bufanda with no article?

Spanish normally requires an article (or another determiner) with countable singular nouns:

• lleva una bufanda = “wears a scarf”

Saying ✗ lleva bufanda is possible in some short, more “headline-style” contexts, but it’s less neutral and sounds a bit elliptical.

Adding roja also makes article-omission feel even less natural. The most normal version is:

• lleva una bufanda roja

So, unlike English (where “She wears red scarf in winter” is wrong), Spanish strongly prefers an/una in these cases.

Why is it bufanda roja instead of roja bufanda?

In Spanish, most adjectives normally come after the noun:

• una bufanda roja = “a red scarf”
• un coche nuevo = “a new car”
• una casa grande = “a big house”

Adjectives of color almost always go after the noun:

• un vestido azul
• unos zapatos negros

Putting roja before (una roja bufanda) sounds very unnatural and is basically incorrect in normal speech.

Why roja and not rojo?

Adjectives in Spanish agree with the gender and number of the noun.

• bufanda is feminine singular → una bufanda
• The adjective must also be feminine singular → roja

Examples:

• un jersey rojo (masculine singular)
• unas bufandas rojas (feminine plural)
• unos jerseys rojos (masculine plural)

Why is it en invierno and not en el invierno?

Both are possible:

• en invierno
• en el invierno

But when talking about something that regularly happens in that season, Spanish very often drops the article:

• En invierno hace frío.
• En verano vamos a la playa.

Using el makes it sound a bit more specific or contrastive, like “in the winter (as opposed to other times)”, but in most habitual statements native speakers just say:

• Mi amiga lleva siempre una bufanda roja en invierno.

Why is the present tense lleva used to talk about a habitual action?

Spanish uses the simple present for:

• actions happening now
• habits and routines
• general truths

So lleva siempre means “she always wears” as a habit:

• Mi amiga lleva siempre una bufanda roja en invierno. → Every winter, as a routine.

This is like English “My friend always wears…” (not “is always wearing” here).

Why no subject pronoun ella? Could I say Ella lleva siempre…?

In Spanish, subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, ella, nosotros…) are usually omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

Here the subject is clearly mi amiga, so there’s no need for ella.

You could say:

• Ella lleva siempre una bufanda roja en invierno.

That would mean “She always wears a red scarf in winter.” It’s correct, but it changes the subject to ella (she) instead of mi amiga (my friend). You don’t normally say both together:
✗ Mi amiga ella lleva… is wrong.

Why mi amiga and not mis amiga?

Mi vs mis is just singular vs plural, not gender:

• mi amigo = my (male) friend
• mi amiga = my (female) friend
• mis amigos = my friends (all male or mixed)
• mis amigas = my (all female) friends

Here we are talking about one female friend, so it must be mi amiga.

Does amiga always mean a female friend? What about a girlfriend?

• amiga = female friend
• amigo = male friend

For girlfriend/boyfriend in Spain, people normally say:

• novia = girlfriend / fiancée
• novio = boyfriend / fiancé

Context can blur things, but by default:

• Mi amiga → “my (female) friend”
• Mi novia → “my girlfriend”

Is there any nuance missing by not saying lleva puesta?

llevar alone is enough to mean “to wear”:

• Mi amiga lleva una bufanda roja.

llevar puesto / puesta / puestos / puestas literally means “to have on” and emphasizes the wearing a bit more:

• Mi amiga siempre lleva puesta una bufanda roja en invierno.

In practice:

• Both are correct.
• In many contexts, llevar alone is more common and perfectly clear.

Are there other common words in Spain for bufanda?

Yes, in Spain you may also hear:

• bufanda – standard for a warm winter scarf
• pañuelo – more like a handkerchief / light neck scarf
• fular (also fulard) – a fashion scarf, often lighter and longer

In this sentence, bufanda is the natural choice because it’s about winter and a warm scarf.