Breakdown of Hoy he estudiado español en la biblioteca y me siento tranquilo.
Questions & Answers about Hoy he estudiado español en la biblioteca y me siento tranquilo.
In Spain, he estudiado (present perfect) is very common when talking about actions that happened earlier today and are still connected to the present in some way.
- Hoy he estudiado español… ≈ Today I have studied Spanish… (focus on today as an ongoing time period or on the result now)
- Hoy estudié español… ≈ Today I studied Spanish… (more like a completed event in the past, more typical in Latin America)
In Spain, the present perfect (he estudiado) is preferred for things that happened earlier the same day. In much of Latin America, people more often say estudié instead.
He estudiado is the present perfect tense, formed with:
- Present of haber (auxiliary verb) + past participle of the main verb
- For estudiar:
- yo he estudiado
- tú has estudiado
- él / ella ha estudiado
- nosotros hemos estudiado
- vosotros habéis estudiado
- ellos han estudiado
Spanish uses haber (not tener) as the auxiliary verb for compound tenses like the present perfect:
- He estudiado = I have studied
- Using tengo estudiado is either incorrect or highly marked/very regional in this sense. Standard Spanish uses haber for this tense.
Spanish is a “pro-drop” language, which means subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, etc.) are often omitted because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.
- He estudiado can only be yo (I), because:
- he is the first person singular form of haber.
You can say Yo he estudiado español…, but adding yo is usually only for:
- Emphasis: Yo he estudiado, no tú.
- Contrast: Yo he estudiado español, pero ella ha estudiado francés.
In neutral, everyday speech, He estudiado español… without yo is more natural.
In Spanish, names of languages are not capitalised unless they start a sentence.
- español, inglés, francés, alemán
- At the beginning of a sentence: Español es difícil.
In English we write: Spanish, English, French (capital letter).
In Spanish: español, inglés, francés (lowercase in normal use).
Because en means in / at a place, while a usually indicates movement to a place.
- En la biblioteca = in the library / at the library (location)
- A la biblioteca = to the library (movement, direction)
Compare:
Hoy he estudiado español en la biblioteca.
Today I’ve studied Spanish in the library. (where the studying happened)He ido a la biblioteca para estudiar español.
I have gone to the library to study Spanish. (where you went to)
Spanish usually requires an article (el / la / los / las) with singular, countable nouns, even when English doesn’t use one.
- la biblioteca = the library
- Saying just en biblioteca sounds incomplete or wrong in this context.
Some exceptions exist (e.g. set phrases like en casa, en clase), but in most standard cases you say:
- en la biblioteca, en el parque, en la escuela
Both are possible, but they have slightly different focuses:
Me siento tranquilo.
Literally I feel calm. Emphasises the subjective feeling or current emotional state.Estoy tranquilo.
I am calm. Describes your state, often a bit more neutral as a description of how you are.
In many contexts they are interchangeable:
- Después de estudiar, me siento tranquilo.
- Después de estudiar, estoy tranquilo.
Using sentirse emphasises the internal experience of feeling that way.
sentir (without reflexive pronoun) usually means to feel something (an object, a noun, or that-clause):
- Siento frío. – I feel cold.
- Siento dolor. – I feel pain.
- Siento que no tengo energía. – I feel that I have no energy.
sentirse (with reflexive pronoun: me, te, se, etc.) means to feel + adjective / adverb:
- Me siento tranquilo. – I feel calm.
- Me siento cansado. – I feel tired.
- Me siento bien. – I feel good.
In your sentence, tranquilo is an adjective, so Spanish prefers sentirse → me siento tranquilo.
The adjective tranquilo must agree with the subject in gender and number.
- Me siento tranquilo. – Speaker is male and singular.
- Me siento tranquila. – Speaker is female and singular.
- Nos sentimos tranquilos. – Group of males or mixed group.
- Nos sentimos tranquilas. – Group of only females.
So tranquilo in the sentence implies the speaker is one male (or grammatically masculine person).
Not in the same way. Tranquilo is an adjective, describing how the person is:
- Me siento tranquilo. – I feel calm.
Tranquilamente is an adverb, describing how an action is done:
- Estudio tranquilamente en la biblioteca.
I study calmly/quietly in the library.
So:
- Me siento tranquilo → I feel calm (state).
- Estudio tranquilamente → I study calmly (manner of the action).
Hoy is quite flexible in position. All are possible, with small differences in emphasis:
- Hoy he estudiado español en la biblioteca y me siento tranquilo.
- He estudiado español hoy en la biblioteca y me siento tranquilo.
- He estudiado español en la biblioteca hoy y me siento tranquilo.
Most natural:
- At the beginning (very common): Hoy he estudiado…
Before the complement you want to stress:
- He estudiado español hoy en la biblioteca… (emphasises “today”)
- He estudiado español en la biblioteca hoy… (slight stress on “today at the library” as a unit)
All are grammatically correct.
When talking about a language in general (studying it, speaking it, etc.), Spanish usually omits the article:
- Estudio español. – I study Spanish.
- Hablo inglés. – I speak English.
You can use the article with languages in some cases, but there is a nuance:
- El español es una lengua muy rica. – Spanish is a very rich language. (language as an abstract concept)
- Hoy he estudiado español. – Today I’ve studied Spanish. (the language as a subject, no article)
Using el español after estudiar would sound unusual or too specific in this context.
Yes, everyone will understand it, but in many parts of Latin America people more often say:
- Hoy estudié español en la biblioteca y me siento tranquilo.
Using estudié (simple past) sounds more natural there when talking about finished actions earlier today.
In Spain, Hoy he estudiado… is the most typical choice in everyday speech.