Questions & Answers about En septiembre empieza el curso, y siempre hago un resumen de lo que quiero aprender ese mes.
Why does the sentence start with en septiembre and not something like septiembre on its own?
In Spanish, months are normally used with the preposition en when you mean in a particular month:
- en septiembre = in September
- en enero = in January
Unlike in English, months are not capitalized in normal Spanish spelling, so septiembre stays lowercase unless it begins a sentence.
What does el curso mean here? Is it a course, or the school year?
In Spain, el curso often means the school year or the academic year, not just one individual class.
So in this sentence:
- En septiembre empieza el curso
= The school year starts in September
If you said un curso, that often means a course/class. But el curso in this context strongly suggests the academic year.
Why is it empieza and not empezar?
Empieza is the third person singular present tense form of empezar.
The subject is el curso, which is singular, so the verb must match it:
- el curso empieza = the school year starts
The infinitive empezar means to start, but after a subject you need a conjugated form:
- Yo empiezo
- Tú empiezas
- Él/ella empieza
This verb is also a stem-changing verb: e → ie in many present-tense forms.
Why is there a comma before y?
Normally, Spanish does not usually put a comma before y when simply linking two items or clauses. However, a comma can appear before y when there is a slight pause, a change in structure, or for stylistic reasons.
Here:
- En septiembre empieza el curso, y siempre hago...
The comma is understandable because the sentence joins two complete ideas. Still, many native speakers would also write it without the comma:
- En septiembre empieza el curso y siempre hago un resumen...
So this is more a punctuation/style issue than a grammar rule you need to worry too much about.
Why is it hago and not haca or something more regular?
Because hacer is an irregular verb.
In the present tense, the yo form is:
- hago = I do / I make
Examples:
- hago un resumen = I make a summary
- hago la tarea = I do the homework
This is a very common irregular form, so it is worth memorizing early:
- yo hago
- tú haces
- él/ella hace
What exactly does resumen mean here?
Resumen usually means summary or outline.
In this sentence, hago un resumen de lo que quiero aprender ese mes suggests something like:
- a short summary
- a list
- an overview of goals for the month
So it does not have to be a formal academic summary. It can simply mean a personal overview of what the speaker wants to learn.
Why do we say de lo que quiero aprender? What does lo que mean here?
Lo que is a very common structure meaning something like:
- what
- the thing(s) that
- that which
Here:
- un resumen de lo que quiero aprender
- literally: a summary of what I want to learn
Why de? Because the noun resumen is followed by de:
- un resumen de algo = a summary of something
And then lo que quiero aprender is the content of that summary.
A useful way to see it:
- de = of
- lo que quiero aprender = what I want to learn
So together:
- de lo que quiero aprender = of what I want to learn
Could I say de que quiero aprender instead of de lo que quiero aprender?
No, not in this sentence.
You need de lo que here, not de que, because the idea is what I want to learn, not just that I want to learn.
Compare:
- un resumen de lo que quiero aprender = a summary of what I want to learn
- de que would not work naturally here
A simple rule:
- Use lo que when you mean what / the thing that
- Use que by itself in other types of clauses, but not for this meaning
Why is it quiero aprender and not quiero aprendo?
After a conjugated verb like quiero (I want), Spanish normally uses the infinitive for the next verb:
- quiero aprender = I want to learn
- quiero comer = I want to eat
- quiero estudiar = I want to study
So:
- quiero = conjugated verb
- aprender = infinitive
Using aprendo would be like saying I want I learn, which is not correct in Spanish.
Why does the sentence use the present tense: empieza, hago, quiero?
Spanish often uses the present tense for:
- General truths or routines
- Things that regularly happen
- Scheduled events
In this sentence:
- En septiembre empieza el curso = something that regularly happens / a known event
- siempre hago = a habitual action
- quiero aprender = the speaker’s current intention
This is very natural Spanish. English often does something similar:
- In September the school year starts, and I always make...
Why is it siempre hago? Where does siempre go?
Siempre means always, and in Spanish adverbs like this often go before the verb:
- siempre hago
- siempre estudio por la tarde
- siempre llegamos tarde
That placement is very common and natural. Spanish word order is flexible, but siempre hago is the most straightforward choice here.
Why does it say ese mes and not este mes?
Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things.
- este mes = this month
- ese mes = that month
In the sentence, the speaker has just mentioned septiembre, so ese mes refers back to that specific month: that month.
So the meaning is:
- In September the school year starts, and I always make a summary of what I want to learn that month.
If you said este mes, it would sound more like the speaker is talking about the current month from their present point of view.
Could ese mes be replaced by en ese mes?
Yes, but the meaning changes slightly in style, not much in basic sense.
- ese mes = that month
- en ese mes = in that month
After aprender, the version without en is more natural here because ese mes works like a time expression:
- lo que quiero aprender ese mes = what I want to learn that month
Spanish often uses time expressions directly without a preposition:
- este año
- ese día
- la semana pasada
So ese mes is the smoother choice.
Is aprender the best verb here? Could it also be estudiar?
Yes, estudiar could also work, but it would change the nuance a little.
- aprender = to learn
- estudiar = to study
So:
- lo que quiero aprender ese mes focuses on the knowledge or skills the speaker wants to gain
- lo que quiero estudiar ese mes focuses more on the act of studying
Both are natural, but aprender sounds a bit more goal-oriented.
Can the first part be translated as In September the course begins?
Grammatically, yes, but in Spain that translation may sound less natural in context.
Because el curso often means the school year, a more natural translation is:
- In September the school year begins/starts
If you translate it as the course, English speakers may imagine one single class rather than the academic year.
Is this sentence specifically natural in Spanish from Spain?
Yes, especially because of el curso meaning the academic year. That is very natural in Spain.
The whole sentence sounds natural in Spain:
- En septiembre empieza el curso
- hago un resumen
- lo que quiero aprender ese mes
A speaker from another Spanish-speaking country would understand it perfectly, though they might choose slightly different wording depending on local habits.
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