Por la mañana, saludo a la vecina antes de coger el tranvía al centro.

Por la mañana means in the morning. Spanish often uses por + time expression to mean during that part of the day:

• por la mañana = in the morning
• por la tarde = in the afternoon / evening
• por la noche = at night / in the evening

So here it sets the time for the whole sentence: this happens in the morning.

The comma is used because Por la mañana is an introductory time phrase placed at the beginning of the sentence. It is similar to English sentences like:

• In the morning, I greet the neighbour...

The comma is common and natural, though in some short sentences Spanish punctuation can be a little flexible.

Spanish usually drops subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

• saludo = I greet
• saludas = you greet
• saluda = he/she greets

So saludo already tells us the subject is I, and yo is unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast.

Saludo is the present tense of saludar.

In Spanish, the present tense can mean:

• something happening now, or
• something you do regularly / habitually

In this sentence, because of the context, it most naturally means a routine:

• In the morning, I greet the neighbour before taking the tram to the centre.

So it sounds like something the speaker usually does.

This is the personal a. In Spanish, when the direct object is a specific person (or sometimes a pet), you usually put a before it.

So:

• saludo a la vecina = I greet the neighbour

Even though la vecina is the direct object, Spanish still uses a because she is a person.

Compare:

• Veo la casa = I see the house
• Veo a la vecina = I see the neighbour

Spanish often uses the definite article more than English does.

• la vecina = the female neighbour

Here it refers to a specific neighbour the speaker has in mind, probably one they know and regularly see. In English, we might sometimes say I greet my neighbour or I greet the neighbour, but in Spanish la vecina is very natural.

Also, vecina is feminine, so it refers to a female neighbour. A male neighbour would be el vecino.

After antes de, Spanish uses an infinitive when the subject stays the same.

• antes de coger = before taking
• antes de salir = before leaving
• antes de comer = before eating

So de is required here.

If there is a new subject and a full clause, Spanish often uses antes de que + subjunctive:

• antes de que llegue = before he/she arrives

But in your sentence, it is the same person doing both actions, so antes de + infinitive is correct.

In Spain, coger commonly means to take, to catch, or to get transport:

• coger el tranvía = to take the tram

This is completely normal in Spain.

A useful cultural note: in much of Latin America, coger can be vulgar, so learners are often taught alternatives such as:

• tomar el tranvía
• agarrar el tranvía in some regions

But since this is Spanish from Spain, coger is perfectly standard.

Tranvía means tram. It is a masculine noun, so it takes el:

• el tranvía

Even though it ends in -a, it is masculine. Not all nouns ending in -a are feminine.

Because a + el contracts to al in Spanish.

So:

• a el centro → al centro

This is mandatory. You must say al centro, not a el centro.

A similar contraction happens with:

• de + el → del

Al centro literally means to the centre or downtown / into the city centre, depending on context.

In everyday Spanish, el centro often means the central part of town or city, not just the geometric centre. So here it probably means:

• to the town centre
• downtown
• into the city centre

The word order is natural and straightforward:

• Por la mañana = time
• saludo a la vecina = main action
• antes de coger el tranvía = what happens before the next action
• al centro = destination of the tram trip

Spanish word order is often flexible, but this version sounds very natural. You could move parts around for emphasis, but this is a normal neutral order.

Yes. That is also grammatical and natural.

It changes the focus slightly:

• Por la mañana, saludo a la vecina antes de coger el tranvía al centro.
• Antes de coger el tranvía al centro, saludo a la vecina.

Both mean essentially the same thing. Spanish often allows this kind of reordering, especially with time phrases and subordinate phrases.

You would say:

• Por la mañana, saludo al vecino antes de coger el tranvía al centro.

Two things change:

• vecina → vecino
• a el vecino contracts to al vecino

So saludo al vecino means I greet the male neighbour.