Mi hermana prefiere teletrabajar solo tres días a la semana para ser más eficiente.

My sister prefers to work remotely only three days a week to be more efficient.

Breakdown of Mi hermana prefiere teletrabajar solo tres días a la semana para ser más eficiente.

• ser: to be
• el día: the day
• mi: my
• para: to
• la semana: the week
• más: more
• la hermana: the sister
• preferir: to prefer
• tres: three
• solo: only
• teletrabajar: to work remotely
• a: per
• eficiente: efficient

Questions & Answers about Mi hermana prefiere teletrabajar solo tres días a la semana para ser más eficiente.

Why is teletrabajar used here instead of something like trabajar desde casa? Are they the same?

Teletrabajar literally means “to telework / to work remotely.”

In Spain:

• teletrabajar is very common and sounds natural and up‑to‑date.
• trabajar desde casa (“to work from home”) is also correct, but slightly more specific: it suggests working from home in particular, whereas teletrabajar can include other remote locations (coworking spaces, etc.).

In this sentence, Mi hermana prefiere teletrabajar…, both teletrabajar and trabajar desde casa would be understood, but teletrabajar is shorter and sounds very natural in Peninsular Spanish.

Why is it prefiere teletrabajar and not something like prefiere de teletrabajar or prefiere a teletrabajar?

In Spanish, with verbs of preference like preferir, when you follow them directly with another verb, you use the infinitive without any preposition:

• Prefiere teletrabajar. – “She prefers to work remotely.”
• Prefiero comer temprano. – “I prefer to eat early.”
• Preferimos salir mañana. – “We prefer to go out tomorrow.”

You do not add de, a, or any other preposition before the infinitive in this structure. So:

• ❌ prefiere de teletrabajar
• ❌ prefiere a teletrabajar
• ✅ prefiere teletrabajar

Could we say prefiere que teletrabaje instead of prefiere teletrabajar?

That would change the meaning.

• Prefiere teletrabajar = She herself prefers to work remotely.
• Prefiere que teletrabaje = She prefers that someone else works remotely.

With preferir + infinitive, the subject is the same in both verbs:

• Mi hermana prefiere teletrabajar… (She prefers / She works remotely)

With preferir que + subjunctive, the subject usually changes:

• Mi hermana prefiere que yo teletrabaje… – “My sister prefers that I work remotely.”
• Mi hermana prefiere que su jefe teletrabaje… – “My sister prefers that her boss works remotely.”

So in the original sentence, teletrabajar is correct because it’s still talking about your sister’s own action.

Why is it solo and not solamente? Are they different?

Solo and solamente both mean “only” / “just” as adverbs:

• solo tres días a la semana
• solamente tres días a la semana

In modern Spanish, they are basically interchangeable in meaning. Differences:

• solo is more common in everyday speech because it’s shorter.
• solamente can sound a bit more formal or emphatic, but it’s still very normal.

You could say:

• Mi hermana prefiere teletrabajar solo tres días a la semana.
• Mi hermana prefiere teletrabajar solamente tres días a la semana.

Both are correct and natural.

Why doesn’t solo have an accent (sólo) here? Didn’t that use to exist?

Historically, some people wrote:

• sólo (with accent) = “only” (adverb)
• solo (without accent) = “alone” (adjective)

However, the current recommendation from the RAE (Royal Spanish Academy) is:

• Always write it without an accent: solo, whether it means “only” or “alone,”
• Only use an accent (sólo) in very rare cases of real ambiguity, which almost never come up in normal speech.

In your sentence, solo clearly means “only,” not “alone,” so no accent is required:

• ✅ Mi hermana prefiere teletrabajar solo tres días a la semana…

Could we move solo to another position, like Mi hermana solo prefiere teletrabajar tres días…?

You can move solo, but its position changes what it seems to modify.

In the original:

• Mi hermana prefiere teletrabajar solo tres días a la semana…
  → solo modifies tres días a la semana (only three days per week, not more).

If you say:

• Mi hermana solo prefiere teletrabajar tres días a la semana.
  This sounds odd and potentially ambiguous. It could be understood as:
  • She only prefers (and doesn’t actually do it), or
  • She only prefers teleworking three days (as opposed to preferring other things).

More natural variations that keep the meaning are:

• Mi hermana prefiere solo teletrabajar tres días a la semana.
• Mi hermana solo prefiere teletrabajar tres días a la semana a la semana laboral. (context-dependent and still a bit awkward)

The clearest and most natural way to say “only three days a week” is the original:

• …prefiere teletrabajar solo tres días a la semana…

Why is it tres días a la semana and not tres días por semana or en la semana?

All of these are understandable, but a la semana is the most common, neutral way to say “per week” in Spain:

• tres días a la semana – very standard and natural
• tres días por semana – also correct, slightly less common, but fine
• tres días en la semana – can sound a bit less idiomatic in this context

You can think of:

• a la semana ≈ “per week”

So:

• ✅ Mi hermana prefiere teletrabajar tres días a la semana.
• ✅ Mi hermana prefiere teletrabajar tres días por semana.
• ❌ / odd: Mi hermana prefiere teletrabajar tres días en la semana. (not wrong grammatically, but not the usual choice here)

Why is it para ser más eficiente and not para estar más eficiente?

The difference is ser vs estar:

• ser is used for more permanent or defining characteristics.
• estar is used for temporary states or conditions.

Being eficiente (“efficient”) is treated as a more stable trait or quality, closer to a characteristic than a passing state. So Spanish tends to use ser:

• Quiero ser más eficiente. – “I want to be more efficient.”
• Trabaja así para ser más eficiente. – “She works like this to be more efficient.”

Using estar eficiente is possible but much less common and usually sounds odd; it would suggest some temporary “efficient state,” which isn’t how people typically talk about efficiency.

So:

• ✅ para ser más eficiente – natural
• ❌ para estar más eficiente – strange in standard usage

Does eficiente have to agree with hermana in gender and number? Why isn’t it eficienta?

Adjectives ending in -e in Spanish typically have one form for both masculine and feminine, and then add -s for plural:

• eficiente (masculine singular)
• eficiente (feminine singular)
• eficientes (masc. or fem. plural)

So:

• Mi hermano es eficiente. – “My brother is efficient.”
• Mi hermana es eficiente. – “My sister is efficient.”
• Mis hermanas son eficientes. – “My sisters are efficient.”

That’s why it’s más eficiente, not eficienta. The adjective already matches the feminine subject; it doesn’t change its ending to -a.

Why is it para ser más eficiente and not para que sea más eficiente?

The choice depends on whether the subject stays the same or changes.

• para + infinitive is used when the subject of both verbs is the same:

  • Mi hermana prefiere teletrabajar… para ser más eficiente.
    (She prefers / She is efficient)

• para que + subjunctive is used when the subject changes:

  • Mi hermana quiere que su equipo teletrabaje para que sea más eficiente.
    “My sister wants her team to work remotely so that it is more efficient.”

In your sentence, mi hermana is the one who prefers and also the one who wants to be more efficient, so para ser is correct.

Why is it Mi hermana prefiere… without an article, and not La mi hermana prefiere…?

With possessive adjectives like mi, tu, su, nuestro, Spanish does not use an article in front of them:

• ✅ Mi hermana prefiere…
• ✅ Tu hermano trabaja mucho.
• ✅ Su jefe teletrabaja.

Using an article before a possessive, like la mi hermana, is:

• archaic / literary in modern Spanish,
• or used only in very specific regional / dialectal contexts.

So in standard, contemporary Spanish from Spain:

• ❌ La mi hermana prefiere…
• ✅ Mi hermana prefiere…

Could we drop a la semana and just say Mi hermana prefiere teletrabajar solo tres días?

Yes, you can say:

• Mi hermana prefiere teletrabajar solo tres días.

This will often be understood as “only three days a week,” especially if the context is already about a weekly schedule.

However, adding a la semana:

• makes the time frame explicit,
• avoids any possible confusion (three days in what period? per week? per month?).

So both are grammatically correct, but:

• tres días a la semana is clearer and more precise in isolation.