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En julio tenemos menos tareas, pero quiero seguir practicando y preparar otra presentación.

En julio tenemos menos tareas, pero quiero seguir practicando y preparar otra presentación.
In July we have fewer assignments, but I want to keep practicing and prepare another presentation.
FromLesson 43inHardcore Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about En julio tenemos menos tareas, pero quiero seguir practicando y preparar otra presentación.

Why is it En julio and not just julio?

En julio means in July. In Spanish, en is commonly used with months to mean in a certain month.

  • En julio tenemos menos tareas. = In July we have fewer tasks.

You may also sometimes see the month used without en in other contexts, but en julio is the most straightforward and natural way to say in July.

Also, month names in Spanish are normally not capitalized, so it is julio, not Julio.

Why is tenemos used here?

Tenemos is the present tense of tener for nosotros/nosotras = we have.

  • yo tengo = I have
  • tú tienes = you have
  • él/ella tiene = he/she has
  • nosotros tenemos = we have

So:

  • tenemos menos tareas = we have fewer tasks

The subject pronoun nosotros is omitted because Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb ending already makes the subject clear.

Why doesn’t the sentence say nosotros tenemos?

Because Spanish usually does not need subject pronouns unless you want emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

So tenemos already clearly means we have, and quiero clearly means I want.

The sentence could say:

  • En julio nosotros tenemos menos tareas...

but that sounds more emphatic, as if you were contrasting we with someone else.

What does menos tareas mean exactly, and why is it not menas tareas?

Menos means fewer / less. It does not change form for gender or number, so it stays menos with both masculine and feminine nouns.

  • menos tareas = fewer tasks
  • menos problemas = fewer problems
  • menos agua = less water

So even though tareas is feminine plural, it is still menos, not menas.

What does tareas mean here? Is it the same as homework?

Tareas literally means tasks, assignments, or pieces of work. Depending on context, it can sometimes be translated as homework, but here it more generally means tasks/work to do.

So:

  • tenemos menos tareas = we have fewer tasks / less work to do

If this were specifically school homework, tareas could also work, but the broader sense here is probably just assignments or work items.

Why is there a comma before pero?

In Spanish, it is normal to put a comma before pero when it joins two clauses:

  • En julio tenemos menos tareas, pero quiero seguir practicando...

This works much like English:

  • We have fewer tasks in July, but I want to keep practicing...

So the comma is standard punctuation here.

Why does the sentence switch from tenemos to quiero?

Because the speaker changes from talking about we to talking about I.

  • tenemos menos tareas = we have fewer tasks
  • quiero seguir practicando... = I want to keep practicing...

This is very natural. The first part describes a shared situation, and the second part gives the speaker’s personal intention.

Why is it quiero seguir practicando and not quiero seguir practicar?

Because seguir is commonly followed by a gerund to mean to keep / continue doing something.

So:

  • seguir practicando = to keep practicing
  • seguir estudiando = to keep studying
  • seguir trabajando = to keep working

That is why the pattern is:

  • quiero seguir practicando = I want to keep practicing

Here, quiero takes the infinitive seguir, and then seguir takes the gerund practicando.

Could you also say quiero seguir practicar?

No, that is not natural Spanish.

After seguir, if you mean continue doing, you normally use a gerund:

  • seguir practicando
  • seguir leyendo
  • seguir hablando

Another possible structure exists in some contexts, such as seguir sin + infinitive, but for this sentence the normal choice is definitely seguir practicando.

Why is practicando a gerund? Is it the same as the English -ing form?

It is a gerund, formed from the verb practicar:

  • practicar → practicando

It often corresponds to English -ing, but it does not behave exactly the same way as in English.

In this sentence:

  • seguir practicando = keep practicing

So here the gerund is part of a verb structure after seguir.

A useful point: Spanish gerunds are used less freely than English -ing forms. You cannot always translate English -ing directly with a Spanish gerund.

Why is it preparar and not preparando?

Because preparar depends directly on quiero.

The structure is:

So the speaker wants to do two things:

  1. seguir practicando = keep practicing
  2. preparar otra presentación = prepare another presentation

This is natural because quiero governs both actions.

You could think of it as:

  • Quiero [seguir practicando] y [preparar otra presentación].
Could the sentence say quiero seguir practicando y preparando otra presentación?

Yes, that is grammatically possible, but it means something slightly different.

  • seguir practicando y preparar otra presentación = I want to keep practicing and prepare another presentation.
  • seguir practicando y preparando otra presentación = I want to continue practicing and also continue preparing another presentation.

The original sentence treats prepare another presentation as a separate goal. Using preparando would suggest that the preparation is also already ongoing and is being continued.

Why is it otra presentación and not una otra presentación?

In Spanish, otro/otra usually does not take un/una before it.

So you say:

  • otra presentación = another presentation
  • otro libro = another book

Not:

  • una otra presentación

This is different from English, where another historically includes the idea of an + other.

Why does otra come before presentación?

Because otro/otra normally goes before the noun:

  • otra presentación
  • otro día
  • otra vez

So otra presentación is the standard word order for another presentation.

Why does presentación have an accent mark?

Because the stress falls on the final syllable sound -ción, and Spanish spelling rules require a written accent there.

  • presentación

Many nouns ending in -ción have this pattern:

  • nación
  • información
  • situación
  • presentación

The accent helps show correct pronunciation.

Is pero always the best translation for but here?

Yes. Pero is the normal and most common word for but in this kind of sentence.

  • Tenemos menos tareas, pero quiero seguir practicando...

It connects two ideas in contrast:

  • there is less work,
  • but the speaker still wants to continue and do more.

So pero is exactly the natural choice here.

Why isn’t there an article before julio, like en el julio?

Because in Spanish, months are usually used without an article after en when talking generally about time.

So:

  • en julio = in July
  • en agosto = in August

Using el here would normally sound unnatural. Spanish handles months differently from English in some expressions, and this is one of them.

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