Compro una revista en el quiosco.

Compro is the first-person singular form of the verb comprar in the present indicative.

• comprar = the infinitive, to buy
• compro = I buy
• compra = he/she buys or you buy (formal usted)

So Compro una revista... means the subject is I.

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

• compro already tells you it means I buy
• so yo compro is possible, but usually unnecessary

You would add yo only for emphasis, contrast, or clarity:

• Yo compro una revista, pero él compra un periódico.

In a neutral sentence, Compro una revista en el quiosco sounds perfectly natural.

It is the present indicative.

In Spanish, the present tense can often express:

• a habitual action: I buy a magazine at the kiosk
• a current action, depending on context: I’m buying a magazine at the kiosk

If you want to be very explicit about an action happening right now, Spanish often uses:

• Estoy comprando una revista en el quiosco.

But the simple present is very common and flexible.

Because in Spanish, singular countable nouns usually need an article or another determiner.

So:

• una revista = a magazine
• la revista = the magazine

Saying only Compro revista would sound incomplete in standard Spanish in this context.

Because revista is a feminine noun, so it takes the feminine singular indefinite article una.

• un = masculine singular
• una = feminine singular

Examples:

• un libro
• una revista

This is about the noun’s grammatical gender, not whether the object is actually female.

One clue is the ending: many nouns ending in -a are feminine.

So:

• la revista
• una revista

This is a useful pattern, but not an absolute rule. For example:

• el día is masculine
• la mano is feminine

So the safest way is to learn nouns together with their article:

• la revista
• el quiosco

En here means in / at, and it gives the place where the action happens.

So:

• en el quiosco = at the kiosk / newsstand

In this sentence, it tells you where the magazine is bought.

English often says at the kiosk, while Spanish commonly uses en for that idea:

• Compro una revista en el quiosco.

El quiosco uses the definite article, so it means the kiosk.

This can happen because:

• the speaker has a specific kiosk in mind
• or Spanish often uses the definite article in places where English also uses the for familiar or expected locations

If you said en un quiosco, that would mean in/at a kiosk, with no specific one in mind.

So the difference is:

• en el quiosco = at the kiosk
• en un quiosco = at a kiosk

Yes. In Spain, quiosco is a normal word for a kiosk or newsstand.

Also, both quiosco and kiosco are accepted spellings. They mean the same thing and are pronounced the same way.

You may see either form, but quiosco is very common in standard written Spanish.

It is pronounced roughly like KYOS-ko.

A few useful points:

• qui here sounds like ki
• the u in qui is silent
• the stress falls on the first syllable: QUIOS-co

So a simple approximation for an English speaker is:

• KYOS-ko

Yes, depending on context.

Spanish simple present is broader than English simple present. It can express:

• a regular action: I buy a magazine at the kiosk
• an action happening now: I’m buying a magazine at the kiosk

If the speaker wants to clearly emphasize right now, they might say:

• Estoy comprando una revista en el quiosco.

But without more context, compro can work for both.

Yes, Spanish word order is more flexible than English, although the original order is the most neutral here.

Neutral:

• Compro una revista en el quiosco.

Other possible orders:

• En el quiosco compro una revista.
• Una revista compro en el quiosco. — possible, but much less neutral and would usually need special emphasis

So for a basic statement, Compro una revista en el quiosco is the most natural choice.

Because the direct object here is a thing, not a person.

Spanish uses the personal a mainly before specific people and sometimes pets or personified beings:

• Veo a María.
• Llamo al profesor.

But with objects, you do not use that a:

• Compro una revista.
• Leo un libro.

So the sentence is correct without it.