La tutora quiere que sigamos practicando español cada día.

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Questions & Answers about La tutora quiere que sigamos practicando español cada día.

Why is it la tutora and not just la profesora or la maestra?

In Spain, tutora is a specific kind of teacher:

  • tutora: usually the homeroom teacher, form tutor, or academic advisor for a class or group of students. She looks after the group, talks to parents, follows their progress, etc.
  • profesora: any female teacher in general.
  • maestra: more common for primary school teachers (and more frequent in Latin America than in Spain).

So la tutora suggests this is the teacher responsible for the group, not just any random teacher.

Why is it la tutora and not el tutor?

Spanish nouns referring to people usually mark grammatical gender:

  • el tutor = male tutor
  • la tutora = female tutor

The article (el / la) and the noun ending (-o / -a) agree in gender. The sentence implies that the tutor is a woman, so it uses la tutora.

If the tutor were a man, you’d say:

  • El tutor quiere que sigamos practicando español cada día.
Why is it quiere que sigamos and not quiere que seguimos?

Because in Spanish, many verbs of wanting, hoping, asking, etc. are followed by que + subjunctive, not the normal indicative:

  • querer que + subjunctive
  • esperar que + subjunctive
  • pedir que + subjunctive

So:

  • quiere que sigamos (correct: subjunctive)
    vs.
  • quiere que seguimos (incorrect)

The tutor’s desire, wish, or intention about another subject (us) triggers the subjunctive in the subordinate clause (que sigamos practicando…).

What does sigamos mean exactly, and what form is it?

Sigamos is:

  • Verb: seguir (to continue, to keep doing something)
  • Person: nosotros / nosotras (we)
  • Tense/mood: present subjunctive

Full present subjunctive of seguir:

  • yo siga
  • sigas
  • él / ella / usted siga
  • nosotros / nosotras sigamos
  • vosotros / vosotras sigáis
  • ellos / ellas / ustedes sigan

So sigamos = that we continue / that we keep.

In the sentence:
quiere que sigamos practicando ≈ “she wants us to keep practicing”.

Why is the subjunctive used after que here? Could we ever use the infinitive instead?

You get querer + que + subjunctive when:

  • The subject of querer and the subject of the second verb are different.

Here:

  • Subject of quiere = la tutora (she)
  • Subject of sigamos practicando = nosotros (we)

Since they’re different, Spanish requires que + subjunctive:

  • La tutora quiere que sigamos practicando…

If the same person is doing both actions, you use querer + infinitive:

  • La tutora quiere seguir practicando español cada día.
    = The tutor herself wants to continue practicing Spanish every day.

So:

  • Different subject → querer que + subjunctive
  • Same subject → querer + infinitive
Why is it sigamos practicando and not just a simple form like practiquemos?

Both are possible, but there’s a nuance:

  • que sigamos practicando español

    • Uses seguir + gerundio (to keep on doing something).
    • Emphasizes continuity, i.e., not stopping the existing habit.
    • → “that we keep (on) practicing Spanish”
  • que practiquemos español

    • Just focuses on the action in general: that we practice.
    • Doesn’t explicitly highlight the idea of continuing something already in progress.

So both are grammatically fine:

  • La tutora quiere que sigamos practicando español cada día.
  • La tutora quiere que practiquemos español cada día.

The original sentence slightly emphasizes carrying on with an ongoing practice.

What is the structure seguir + gerund (sigamos practicando) and when is it used?

Seguir + gerundio is a common construction meaning to continue doing something / to keep on doing something.

Pattern:

  • seguir (conjugated) + gerundio (‑ando / ‑iendo)

Examples:

  • Sigo estudiando. = I’m still studying / I keep studying.
  • Seguimos trabajando. = We keep working / we’re still working.
  • Sigamos practicando. = Let’s keep practicing / that we keep practicing.

In your sentence, sigamos practicando literally is (that) we continue practicing.

Why is it practicando español and not practicando el español?

Both are possible, but Spanish often omits the article with languages after verbs like hablar, estudiar, aprender, practicar when used in a general sense:

  • practicar español
  • hablar inglés
  • aprender francés

Adding the article is not wrong, just slightly different in feel:

  • practicar español = practicing Spanish (the language, in general)
  • practicar el español = also correct; can sound a bit more specific or slightly heavier in style, but often interchangeable.

So you could also say:

  • La tutora quiere que sigamos practicando el español cada día.

In everyday speech, without the article is very common.

What’s the difference between cada día and todos los días?

Meaning: almost the same — every day.

  • cada día

    • Literally “each day”.
    • Slightly more individualizing (day by day), sometimes a bit more literary or emphatic, but also common in normal speech.
  • todos los días

    • Literally “all the days”.
    • Very common neutral way to say every day.

In this sentence you could say either:

  • …que sigamos practicando español cada día.
  • …que sigamos practicando español todos los días.

No real change in meaning; both sound natural.

Can I move cada día to another position, like at the beginning or in the middle?

Yes. Spanish word order is flexible as long as you don’t break fixed constructions. All of these are acceptable:

  • La tutora quiere que sigamos practicando español cada día.
  • La tutora quiere que sigamos practicando cada día español. (less common, but possible)
  • Cada día la tutora quiere que sigamos practicando español.
  • La tutora, cada día, quiere que sigamos practicando español. (more written / emphatic)

The original order (time at the end) is very natural and typical:

  • [subject] + [verb] + [que-clause] + [time expression]
Why is nosotros not written anywhere? How do we know it means “we”?

Spanish normally drops subject pronouns because the verb ending shows the person:

  • sigo = I continue
  • sigues = you continue
  • sigue = he / she continues
  • seguimos / sigamos = we continue
  • siguen = they continue

In sigamos, the ‑mos ending marks nosotros / nosotras. So que sigamos practicando means that we keep practicing, even without the pronoun.

You could say:

  • La tutora quiere que nosotros sigamos practicando español…

But nosotros is only needed for emphasis or contrast; it’s not required.

How would the sentence change if the tutor wanted herself to keep practicing Spanish every day?

Then the subject of both verbs is the same person (the tutor), so Spanish uses querer + infinitive:

  • La tutora quiere seguir practicando español cada día.
    = The tutor wants to keep practicing Spanish every day (she herself).

Compare:

  • La tutora quiere que sigamos practicando español cada día.
    = She wants us to keep practicing.

The change from quiere que + subjunctive to quiere + infinitive marks whether it’s about someone else’s action or her own action.

How would I say this in the past, like “The tutor wanted us to keep practicing Spanish every day”?

You need past tense in the main verb (quería / quiso) and imperfect subjunctive in the subordinate clause:

  • La tutora quería que siguiéramos practicando español cada día.

Breakdown:

  • quería = she wanted (imperfect)
  • que siguiéramos practicando = that we kept / would keep practicing (imperfect subjunctive of seguir)

Other possible variant:

  • La tutora quiso que siguiéramos practicando español cada día.
    (more punctual, like a specific decision at a specific moment)
Is this sentence specifically “Spain Spanish”? Would it sound different in Latin America?

The sentence:

  • La tutora quiere que sigamos practicando español cada día.

is perfectly understandable and correct everywhere. Small notes:

  • tutora:

    • In Spain: very common for a form teacher / homeroom teacher / group advisor.
    • In Latin America: understood, but profesora or maestra may be more frequent in some countries/contexts.
  • The grammar (quiere que + subjunctive, seguir + gerundio, cada día) is standard Spanish, valid in Spain and Latin America.

So it’s slightly Spain-flavored in vocabulary (tutora), but grammatically pan-Hispanic.