Mi hermano entrena cada día para la carrera.

My brother trains every day for the race.

Breakdown of Mi hermano entrena cada día para la carrera.

• el día: the day
• mi: my
• para: for
• entrenar: to train
• cada: each
• el hermano: the brother
• la carrera: the career

Questions & Answers about Mi hermano entrena cada día para la carrera.

Why is there no subject pronoun (like él) before entrena?

In Spanish, subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, etc.) are often omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• Entrena is the 3rd person singular form of entrenar, so it already tells us he/she trains.
• Mi hermano is right before the verb, so it’s completely clear who is doing the action.

You could say Mi hermano él entrena cada día…, but in normal Spanish that sounds redundant or emphatic, almost like saying: My brother, he trains every day…. The natural version is simply:

• Mi hermano entrena cada día para la carrera.

Why is entrena (simple present) used instead of something like está entrenando?

Spanish uses the simple present tense much more than English for habits and routines.

• Mi hermano entrena cada día… = My brother trains / works out every day…
  This describes a regular habit.

You would use está entrenando (present continuous) mainly to talk about what he is doing right now or in this period:

• Mi hermano está entrenando para la carrera.
  = My brother is training for the race (these days / currently).

English often uses is training for both habits and current activity, but Spanish prefers:

• Simple present (entrena) for habits
• Continuous (está entrenando) for actions in progress or temporary situations

What’s the difference between cada día and todos los días?

Both basically mean every day, and both are correct.

• cada día – literally each day.
  Often feels a bit more individual, like focusing on every single day.
• todos los días – literally all the days.
  Very common and completely standard in Spain.

You can say either:

• Mi hermano entrena cada día para la carrera.
• Mi hermano entrena todos los días para la carrera.

In everyday speech in Spain, todos los días is very frequent. Cada día is also fine and natural; sometimes it can sound a tiny bit more emphatic or literary depending on context, but here it’s perfectly normal.

Where can cada día go in the sentence? Is Mi hermano entrena cada día… the only option?

You have some flexibility. All of these are correct:

• Mi hermano entrena cada día para la carrera.
• Cada día mi hermano entrena para la carrera.
• Mi hermano, cada día, entrena para la carrera. (more marked/emphatic)

The most neutral and common is the original:

• Mi hermano entrena cada día para la carrera.

Moving cada día to the front (Cada día mi hermano entrena…) puts more emphasis on the frequency: Every day, my brother trains…

What exactly does entrena mean here? Is it like “trains”, “works out”, or “practises”?

The verb entrenar means to train in a physical or sports sense, often with a goal or event in mind.

In this sentence, entrena suggests:

• He is doing some kind of planned physical training
• With a specific objective: la carrera (the race)

Depending on context, in English you might translate it as:

• My brother *trains every day for the race.*
• My brother *works out every day for the race.*
• My brother *is training every day for the race.*

For practising an instrument or a general skill, Spanish more often uses practicar:

• Practico el piano. = I practise the piano.

Why is it para la carrera and not por la carrera?

Para and por are both translated as for in English, but they’re used differently.

Here, para la carrera expresses purpose / goal:

• He trains in order to be ready for the race.
• The race is the objective.

So:

• Mi hermano entrena para la carrera.
  = My brother trains for (with the purpose of) the race.

Por la carrera would usually mean something like:

• because of the race / due to the race / on account of the race
  (talking more about cause or reason, not purpose)

For training for an event (a race, a match, a competition), Spanish uses entrenar para + event.

Does la carrera always mean “race”? I’ve seen it mean “degree” or “career” too.

Carrera is a polysemous word in Spanish; its meaning depends on context:

1. Race / run (sports)

   • Mi hermano entrena para la carrera.
     = for a running race.

2. University degree

   • Estoy estudiando la carrera de medicina.
     = I’m studying for a medical degree.

3. Career / professional path

   • Ha tenido una carrera muy exitosa.
     = He/She has had a very successful career.

In your sentence, the presence of entrena (trains) makes the sports meaning the natural one: race.

Why is it Mi hermano and not El hermano mío?

Spanish normally places the possessive before the noun:

• mi hermano = my brother
• tu casa = your house
• su coche = his/her/their car

The structure with the article + noun + mío/tuyo/suyo (called stressed/long possessives) is used differently:

• el hermano mío = a brother of mine (one of my brothers, more vague)
• un amigo mío = a friend of mine

So:

• Mi hermano entrena cada día…
  = a specific brother you’re clearly identifying as “my brother”.

El hermano mío entrena… is grammatically possible but sounds odd or very marked; it’s not how you’d normally say my brother in this context.

How would the sentence change if I were talking about my sister instead of my brother?

You only need to change hermano to hermana. The rest stays exactly the same:

• Mi hermano entrena cada día para la carrera.
  = My brother trains every day for the race.

• Mi hermana entrena cada día para la carrera.
  = My sister trains every day for the race.

The verb entrena doesn’t change with gender, only with person/number. Gender appears in the noun (hermano/hermana), not in the verb.

How would I say “My brothers train every day for the race”?

You need to make the noun and the verb plural:

• Mis hermanos entrenan cada día para la carrera.

Changes:

• Mi → Mis (my → my, plural)
• hermano → hermanos (brother → brothers)
• entrena → entrenan (he trains → they train)

Why does día have an accent, and how is entrena pronounced?

1. Día has an accent on the í: día

   • Spanish words like dia without an accent would be stressed on the second-to-last syllable (DI-a).
   • The accent mark on día moves the stress to the í and also signals that the two vowels í + a form two syllables: dí-a, not dia as one syllable.

2. Entrena pronunciation:

   • Syllables: en-tre-na
   • Stress on the middle syllable: tre
   • Approximate sound: en-TRAY-na (but with a Spanish r, a single tap of the tongue)

Could I say Mi hermano hace ejercicio cada día para la carrera instead of entrena?

You can, but there’s a nuance:

• entrenar = to train with a plan or goal, often for a sport or competition.
• hacer ejercicio = to exercise / to work out (more general physical activity, not necessarily for a specific event).

So:

• Mi hermano entrena cada día para la carrera.
  → He is specifically training for that race.

• Mi hermano hace ejercicio cada día.
  → He works out every day, with or without a particular event in mind.

If you keep para la carrera:

• Mi hermano hace ejercicio cada día para la carrera.
  is understandable and not wrong, but entrena sounds more natural and specific for preparing for a race.