Breakdown of Escuchar canciones en español me ayuda a mejorar la memoria.
la canción
the song
en
in
me
me
ayudar
to help
Questions & Answers about Escuchar canciones en español me ayuda a mejorar la memoria.
Why does the sentence begin with escuchar instead of a conjugated verb?
Because escuchar is an infinitive, and in Spanish an infinitive can act like a noun.
So Escuchar canciones en español means something like listening to songs in Spanish. That whole infinitive phrase is the subject of the sentence.
- Escuchar = to listen
- Escuchar canciones en español = listening to songs in Spanish
This is very common in Spanish:
Why is it canciones and not las canciones?
Here, canciones is being used in a general sense, not to talk about specific songs.
So:
- Escuchar canciones en español = listening to songs in Spanish, in general
- Escuchar las canciones en español would sound more like listening to the songs in Spanish, meaning particular songs already known in the conversation
Spanish often leaves out the article when speaking generally about plural countable nouns after a verb like this.
What does en español mean here, and why is español not capitalised?