Breakdown of Entre semana prefiero teletrabajar en casa y el fin de semana estudiar en la biblioteca.
Questions & Answers about Entre semana prefiero teletrabajar en casa y el fin de semana estudiar en la biblioteca.
Entre semana is an idiomatic expression meaning on weekdays / during the week (as opposed to the weekend). It refers to the normal working week in a general way.
You could also say:
- Durante la semana – very similar, a bit more neutral/formal.
- Entre semana suelo… vs Durante la semana suelo… → both are fine.
- Los días laborables / los días hábiles – more formal, more focused on working days (excluding public holidays).
- Entre semana normally does not take an article: you don’t say la entre semana.
In Spain, entre semana is very common in speech for “on weekdays”.
They are different fixed expressions:
- Entre semana works like an adverbial phrase, similar to on weekdays / during the week, and it normally appears without an article.
- El fin de semana is a noun phrase (literally “the end of the week”), so it behaves like a normal noun and usually takes an article:
- el fin de semana – the weekend
- un fin de semana – a weekend
- los fines de semana – (the) weekends
So:
- Entre semana prefiero… ✅
- El fin de semana prefiero… ✅
No article on entre semana, but article on fin de semana.
The gender of the whole expression is determined by the head noun fin, not by semana.
- fin (as in “end”) is masculine → el fin
- semana is feminine → la semana
In el fin de semana, the main noun is fin, so:
- el fin de semana (the weekend)
- un fin de semana (a weekend)
- los fines de semana (weekends)
The feminine noun semana is inside a de phrase and does not control the gender of the whole expression.
With preferir (to prefer), when you express what you prefer doing, Spanish normally uses preferir + infinitive:
- Prefiero teletrabajar en casa. – I prefer to work remotely at home.
- Prefiere estudiar por la tarde. – He/She prefers to study in the afternoon.
So:
- prefiero teletrabajar ✅
- prefiero estudiar ✅
- prefiero teletrabajo ❌ (ungrammatical in this meaning)
Prefiero teletrabajo would sound like “I prefer remote work” with teletrabajo as a noun, but even then you’d normally say prefiero el teletrabajo.
In the given sentence, both teletrabajar and estudiar depend on the same prefiero, so they must both be in the infinitive.
No, that is not correct Spanish.
Use:
- Preferir + infinitive when the subject is the same:
- Yo prefiero teletrabajar en casa. ✅
- Preferir que + subjunctive when the subject is different:
- Prefiero que él teletrabaje en casa. ✅
- Prefiero que tú estudies en la biblioteca. ✅
So:
- Prefiero teletrabajar en casa. ✅ (I prefer to work remotely at home.)
- Prefiero que teletrabajo en casa. ❌ (incorrect)
Spanish does not use prefiero que + indicative in this structure when you are talking about your own actions.
They express slightly different ideas:
- Me gusta teletrabajar. – I like working remotely.
- This just says you enjoy it; it doesn’t compare it to anything.
- Prefiero teletrabajar. – I prefer to work remotely.
- This implies a comparison: teletrabajar is better than some other option for you (for example, going to the office).
In your sentence, prefiero suggests a choice:
on weekdays, given the options, you choose or prefer to work from home.
With casa, Spanish often drops the article when it means one’s (own) home:
- en casa – at home
- estar en casa – to be at home
- ir a casa – to go home
- llegar a casa – to get home
If you specify whose house, you use an article or a possessive:
- en la casa de mis padres – in my parents’ house
- en su casa – in his/her/their house
With most other places, you use a normal article:
- en la biblioteca – at the library
- en el cine – at the cinema
- en el trabajo – at work
So:
- teletrabajar en casa – work (remotely) at home
- estudiar en la biblioteca – study at the library
The contrast is because en casa is a fixed, very common expression meaning “at home”.
Because biblioteca here is a countable place (a specific library), so Spanish normally uses an article:
- en la biblioteca – at the library
- en la universidad – at the university
- en el supermercado – at the supermarket
Without an article (en biblioteca) sounds incomplete or very unusual, except in some special technical contexts (for example in programming or documentation where biblioteca means “library of code”).
For the everyday physical place where you go to study, you use la biblioteca.
Yes, Spanish word order is fairly flexible. All of these are natural, with small differences in emphasis:
- Entre semana prefiero teletrabajar en casa…
– Emphasises the time frame first (on weekdays). - Prefiero teletrabajar en casa entre semana…
– Starts with the preference, then specifies when. - Prefiero entre semana teletrabajar en casa…
– Less common, but still possible in speech.
You cannot break fixed expressions like fin de semana, and you generally keep:
- prefiero + infinitive + complements (en casa, en la biblioteca, etc.)
So reorganise only whole chunks, not parts of them.
Both are possible; the nuance is very small:
el fin de semana (singular) can refer to:
- a specific weekend, or
- weekends in general as a kind of time block.
los fines de semana (plural) clearly means:
- on weekends (in general, habitually).
In your sentence, since we are talking about habits, many speakers would naturally say:
- Entre semana prefiero teletrabajar en casa y los fines de semana estudiar en la biblioteca.
But el fin de semana with habitual meaning is also quite common and acceptable.
Teletrabajar literally means to telework, that is, to work remotely, usually from home, using the internet or other communication tools.
- Noun: el teletrabajo – remote work / telework
- Verb: teletrabajar – to work remotely
In Spain, teletrabajar became very common especially after COVID-19. You will also hear:
- trabajar desde casa – to work from home
- trabajo en remoto / trabajar en remoto – to work remotely
But teletrabajar and teletrabajo are very standard and widely understood in Spain.
The speaker is adding two preferred patterns, not contrasting them:
- During the week: prefers to work from home.
- On the weekend: prefers to study at the library.
y = and, simply adds one preference to another.
pero (but) would suggest a contrast in the sense of “I prefer this, but …”, which is not really the idea here; the two habits are just different parts of a weekly routine, not opposite statements.
sino is used to correct a previous negative statement (not A, but B), and that is not the structure here, so it would be incorrect.
Estudiar still depends on the same prefiero. The structure is:
- Entre semana prefiero [teletrabajar en casa] y [el fin de semana estudiar en la biblioteca].
Grammatically, it’s like saying:
- Entre semana prefiero teletrabajar en casa y prefiero el fin de semana estudiar en la biblioteca.
The second prefiero is simply omitted because it would be repetitive. This is very common in Spanish when you coordinate two infinitive phrases after the same verb.
You would normally specify this week / this weekend, and often use the future or a periphrasis with ir a. For example:
- Esta semana voy a teletrabajar en casa y este fin de semana voy a estudiar en la biblioteca.
- Esta semana prefiero teletrabajar en casa y este fin de semana prefiero estudiar en la biblioteca.
Without esta / este, the original sentence is usually understood as a general preference or habit, not just a one‑off plan.
Yes:
- Prefiero… – I prefer…
- Direct statement of preference. Neutral and clear.
- Me gustaría… – I would like…
- More tentative, softer, often more polite or hypothetical.
For example:
- Entre semana prefiero teletrabajar en casa.
– This is what I generally choose. - Entre semana me gustaría teletrabajar en casa.
– I would like to do that, but it might not be what actually happens (maybe my boss doesn’t allow it, etc.).
In your sentence, prefiero presents this as your normal, established routine rather than just a wish.