Respeto a los demás cuando jugamos en grupo.

I respect others when we play in a group.

Breakdown of Respeto a los demás cuando jugamos en grupo.

• yo: I
• en: in
• cuando: when
• nosotros: we
• a: to
• el grupo: the group
• jugar: to play
• respetar: to respect
• demás: other

Questions & Answers about Respeto a los demás cuando jugamos en grupo.

Why is it “respeto” and not “respecto” in this sentence? Are they different words?

Yes, they are completely different words:

• respeto (no c) can be:
  • noun: el respeto = respect
  • verb (yo form): yo respeto = I respect
• respecto (with c) appears mostly in the expression:
  • con respecto a = regarding / with respect to

In the sentence “Respeto a los demás cuando jugamos en grupo”, “respeto” is the verb in the present tense, first person singular: “I respect”. You cannot use “respecto” here.

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Where is the subject “I”? Why don’t we say “Yo respeto a los demás…”?

In Spanish, the subject pronoun is often dropped because the verb ending tells you who the subject is.

• respeto → the ending -o already means “I” (yo)
• So “Respeto a los demás” is normally understood as “Yo respeto a los demás.”

You can say “Yo respeto a los demás…” if you want to emphasize “I” (for contrast, like “I respect others, but he doesn’t”), but in neutral sentences Spanish usually omits the subject pronoun.

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Why do we say “respeto a los demás” and not “respeto los demás”?

Spanish normally uses the “personal a” before direct objects that are people (or treated like people):

• I respect my parents → Respeto a mis padres.
• I see Ana → Veo a Ana.

Here, “los demás” (“the others / everyone else”) refers to people, so you need “a”:

• ✅ Respeto a los demás.
• ❌ Respeto los demás. (sounds wrong with people)

So “a” here is not a preposition of place; it’s the personal a required by Spanish.

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What exactly does “los demás” mean? Is it the same as “los otros” or “todos los demás”?

“Los demás” literally means “the rest (of them)” or “the others / everyone else.”

Nuances:

• los demás = “the others / everyone else” (very common and natural)
• los otros = “the other ones”; can sound a bit more contrastive or specific
• todos los demás = “all the others / all the rest”

In this sentence, “Respeto a los demás” means “I respect the others / the rest of the people (I’m playing with)” and sounds natural and general.

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Why is “respeto” in the present tense? Does it mean I am respecting them right now, or that I generally respect them?

Spanish present simple can express both:

1. Habitual action: something you usually do
   
   • Respeto a los demás cuando jugamos en grupo.
     = I respect others whenever we play in a group.
2. Action right now (if context says so)

In this sentence, with “cuando jugamos en grupo”, it clearly has a habitual meaning: this is your general attitude every time you play in a group.

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Why is it “cuando jugamos” and not “cuando juguemos”? I thought “cuando” often takes the subjunctive.

Whether you use indicative or subjunctive after “cuando” depends on the meaning:

• Indicative (jugamos) = something seen as habitual or real:
  • Respeto a los demás cuando jugamos en grupo.
    → Every time we play in a group (as a fact), I respect others.
• Subjunctive (juguemos) = future / hypothetical / not yet realized:
  • Respetaré a los demás cuando juguemos en grupo.
    → I will respect others when (in the future) we play in a group.

Here, we are talking about a general, repeated situation, so indicative (jugamos) is correct.

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Why is it “jugamos” and not something like “estamos jugando”?

Both forms are possible, but they focus on different things:

• jugamos (present simple): a habit or general truth
  
  • Respeto a los demás cuando jugamos en grupo.
    → Whenever we play in a group, I respect others.
• estamos jugando (present progressive): emphasizes the ongoing action right now
  
  • Respeto a los demás cuando estamos jugando en grupo.
    → I respect others when we are (in the middle of) playing in a group.

Since the sentence sounds like a general rule or value, “jugamos” (present simple) is more natural.

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Could the word order be “Cuando jugamos en grupo, respeto a los demás”? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can absolutely say:

• Cuando jugamos en grupo, respeto a los demás.

Meaning doesn’t change. The difference is just focus and rhythm:

• Respeto a los demás cuando jugamos en grupo.
  → Slightly more focus on what you do (respect others).
• Cuando jugamos en grupo, respeto a los demás.
  → Slightly more focus on when you do it (when we play in a group).

Both are correct and natural.

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Why is it “en grupo” and not “en un grupo”? What is the difference?

Both exist, but they have different nuances:

• en grupo = “in a group / as a group” in a general way
  
  • Focus on the group situation, not on one specific group.
• en un grupo = “in a (particular) group”
  
  • Sounds more like you are talking about a specific group (one team, one class, etc.)

In a sentence stating a general rule or value, “cuando jugamos en grupo” (without un) is more natural: whenever we play in groups / as a group.

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Could I say “Respeto a otros” instead of “Respeto a los demás”?

You can say it, but it sounds a bit less natural and more vague in this context.

• Respeto a los demás → “I respect the others / everyone else (in the group).”
  → Feels inclusive and clearly refers to the other members of the group.
• Respeto a otros → “I respect others.”
  → Grammatically correct but more indefinite; doesn’t point so clearly to “the rest of the people I’m with.”

In the context of playing in a group, “a los demás” is the most idiomatic choice.

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How would I put this sentence in the past, like “I respected others when we played in a group”?

You normally use the imperfect to talk about repeated or habitual actions in the past:

• Respetaba a los demás cuando jugábamos en grupo.
  → I used to respect others when we played in a group.
  → I respected others whenever we played in a group.

If you mean one specific time in the past, you would probably change the sentence a bit and give more context, but for a general past habit, imperfect (respetaba, jugábamos) is what you want.

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Is “respeto” here a verb or a noun? How can I tell?

In “Respeto a los demás…”, “respeto” is a verb (yo respeto = I respect). Clues:

• There is no article like “el” before it:
  • el respeto = the respect (noun)
• It is followed by a direct object with “a”:
  • respeto a los demás = I respect the others (verb + object)

If it were a noun, you’d expect something like:

• Tengo respeto a los demás. = I have respect for others.

In the original sentence, it clearly functions as a verb.