Breakdown of Esta tarde solo estudiaré español en la biblioteca.
Questions & Answers about Esta tarde solo estudiaré español en la biblioteca.
Esta tarde literally means this afternoon. In context it’s usually translated as this afternoon or this evening (if it’s still light).
Spanish is flexible with adverbials of time, so you could say:
- Esta tarde solo estudiaré español en la biblioteca.
- Solo estudiaré español en la biblioteca esta tarde.
- Estudiaré español en la biblioteca solo esta tarde. (slightly different meaning; implies only today afternoon, not other days)
Putting esta tarde at the beginning is very common because it sets the time frame right away, like English This afternoon, I’ll only study Spanish in the library.
In Spanish, subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, etc.) are usually omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.
- Estudiaré ends in -é, which marks first person singular (I) in the simple future tense.
- So (Yo) estudiaré and Estudiaré both mean I will study.
You only usually add yo if you want to emphasize I, for example:
- Esta tarde solo estudiaré español en la biblioteca.
Neutral: I will only study Spanish… - Esta tarde solo yo estudiaré español en la biblioteca.
Emphasis: Only I will study Spanish… (nobody else)
Estudiaré is the simple future tense, first person singular, of estudiar.
For regular -ar verbs, the future is formed by adding endings to the whole infinitive:
- estudiar → estudiaré (I will study)
- estudiarás (you will study)
- estudiará (he/she/it will study)
- estudiaremos (we will study)
- estudiaréis (you all will study, Spain)
- estudiarán (they/you all will study)
Notice that unlike English, you do not add a separate word like will; the ending -é already means will I / I will.
Yes, both are correct, but there is a nuance:
Voy a estudiar español.
Literally I’m going to study Spanish.
Often used for plans or near future, similar to English going to.Estudiaré español.
I will study Spanish.
Slightly more formal or neutral, often used for predictions, promises, or decisions made at the moment.
In many everyday contexts, both are possible and the difference is small:
- Esta tarde voy a estudiar español en la biblioteca.
- Esta tarde estudiaré español en la biblioteca.
Both work; Spaniards use ir a + infinitive a lot in spoken language, but simple future is also very common and not at all unusual.
In Esta tarde solo estudiaré español en la biblioteca, solo most naturally modifies the verb phrase, so the idea is:
- The only thing I will do this afternoon is study Spanish in the library
(not meet friends, not watch TV, etc.)
If you wanted to make it clear that the only subject is Spanish (not French, German, etc.), you would usually put solo next to español:
- Esta tarde estudiaré solo español en la biblioteca.
→ I will study only Spanish in the library (not other subjects).
So:
- Solo estudiaré español… → I will only study (that’s the only activity).
- Estudiaré solo español… → I will study only Spanish (that’s the only subject).
Some common possibilities and their usual interpretations:
Esta tarde solo estudiaré español en la biblioteca.
→ Only activity: I will only study Spanish in the library.Esta tarde estudiaré solo español en la biblioteca.
→ Only subject: I will study only Spanish (not other subjects) in the library.Esta tarde estudiaré español solo en la biblioteca.
→ Only place: I will study Spanish only in the library (not at home, etc.).Solo esta tarde estudiaré español en la biblioteca.
→ Only time: I will study Spanish in the library only this afternoon (not other days).
In Spanish, as in English, the position of solo is very important because it tells you what is being limited: the activity, the subject, the place, or the time.
Traditionally, many people wrote:
- sólo (with accent) when it meant only
- solo (without accent) when it meant alone
However, the current recommendation from the Spanish Royal Academy (RAE) is:
- solo is written without an accent in almost all cases.
- The context normally makes the meaning clear.
In your sentence:
- Esta tarde solo estudiaré español…
solo clearly means only, not alone, and it is correctly written without an accent according to modern rules.
In Spanish:
- Names of languages are written with lowercase, e.g. español, inglés, francés, alemán.
- This is different from English, where Spanish, English, French, German are capitalized.
So estudiaré español is correct. Writing Español as a common noun for the language is considered a spelling mistake in standard Spanish.
Because:
- en = in / inside / at (location)
- a = to / toward (movement, direction)
In your sentence, you are talking about where you will study, not where you are going:
- Estudiaré español en la biblioteca.
I will study Spanish in the library.
If you wanted to talk about going there, you would use a:
- Esta tarde iré a la biblioteca.
This afternoon I will go to the library.
Then you could combine both ideas:
- Esta tarde iré a la biblioteca para estudiar español.
This afternoon I’ll go to the library to study Spanish.
In Spanish, you normally use the definite article with most singular countable nouns when you are speaking in general or about a specific place:
- en la biblioteca = in the library
You would not usually say en biblioteca in standard Spanish; it sounds incomplete, like saying in library in English.
You can omit the article in some fixed expressions (e.g. en casa, en clase), but biblioteca does not behave like those. So:
- ✅ en la biblioteca
- ❌ en biblioteca (not natural in this context)