Cuando el pato termina de picotear el suelo, se acerca a la cabra sin miedo.

Because cuando here is a conjunction meaning when, used to connect two parts of the sentence:

• Cuando el pato termina de picotear el suelo...
• When the duck finishes pecking the ground...

With no accent, cuando introduces a clause.

Cuándo with an accent is used in direct or indirect questions:

• ¿Cuándo viene? = When is he/she coming?
• No sé cuándo viene. = I don’t know when he/she is coming.

So in this sentence, cuando is correct because it is not a question.

In Spanish, definite articles like el, la, los, and las are used more often than the is in English.

Here:

• el pato = the duck
• la cabra = the goat

Yes, in a sentence like this, the articles sound natural and are normally required. Spanish usually does not drop them before ordinary countable nouns the way English sometimes can.

So:

• el pato sounds natural
• pato by itself would sound incomplete in this context

Also, pato is masculine, so it takes el, and cabra is feminine, so it takes la.

Terminar de + infinitive means to finish doing something.

So:

• termina de picotear = finishes pecking

This is a very common Spanish structure:

• terminar de comer = to finish eating
• terminar de leer = to finish reading
• terminar de hablar = to finish speaking

Be careful not to translate it word for word as termines of pecking or anything similar. In natural English, it simply means finishes pecking or sometimes has just finished pecking, depending on context.

Not exactly in this sentence.

There are two similar-looking patterns:

• terminar de + infinitive = to finish doing something
• In some contexts, especially with the right timing/context, it can also suggest has just done something, but that is much more often expressed with context or in certain varieties/usages.

Here, the most straightforward meaning is:

• cuando el pato termina de picotear el suelo = when the duck finishes pecking the ground

That is the safest interpretation for a learner.

Picotear comes from pico meaning beak, and it usually means to peck.

With a bird, it often describes repeated light pecks with the beak:

• El pájaro picotea semillas. = The bird pecks at seeds.

In other contexts, picotear can also mean to nibble or to snack lightly, especially with people and food. But in this sentence, because the subject is el pato, it clearly means to peck.

Because picotear can take a direct object.

Here, el suelo is the thing being pecked:

• picotear el suelo = to peck the ground

If you said picotear en el suelo, that would shift the meaning more toward to peck on the ground or to peck while on the ground, which is not the intended structure here.

So:

• picotear el suelo = peck the ground
• picotear en el suelo = peck on the ground

The original sentence is focusing on what the duck is pecking.

Here it means ground.

Suelo can mean both:

• floor indoors
• ground outdoors

The correct translation depends on context. Since we have a duck and a goat, the outdoor meaning is the natural one:

• el suelo = the ground

If the sentence were about a room or house, floor would be more likely.

Because the verb here is acercarse, which means to approach or to move closer.

In this use, Spanish normally uses the reflexive/pronominal form:

• acercarse a alguien/algo = to approach someone/something

So:

• se acerca a la cabra = it approaches the goat / it moves closer to the goat

Without se, acercar usually means to bring something closer:

• Acerca la silla a la mesa. = Bring the chair closer to the table.

So the se is important because it changes the meaning and structure of the verb.

Because acercarse is followed by a.

The pattern is:

• acercarse a + person/animal/thing

Examples:

• Se acerca al perro. = He/She approaches the dog.
• Me acerco a la ventana. = I move closer to the window.

So:

• se acerca a la cabra = it approaches the goat

This a is part of the verb pattern, not the personal a in the usual sense. Even with things, you still use it:

• Se acerca a la puerta. = He/She approaches the door.

Spanish often uses the present tense to describe:

• habitual actions
• general truths
• scenes in stories
• actions shown in captions or simple descriptions

So this sentence can sound like:

• a description of what happens in a video
• a general behavioral description
• a narrative in the present

That is why you get:

• termina
• se acerca

rather than past forms.

In English, we also sometimes do this:

• When the duck finishes pecking the ground, it goes up to the goat without fear.

Even if English might sometimes prefer the present progressive or past in other contexts, the Spanish present is completely natural here.

Because this sentence describes something presented as real, habitual, or observed.

• Cuando el pato termina de picotear el suelo...

This sounds like whenever the duck finishes pecking the ground or when the duck finishes pecking the ground in a real scene.

Spanish uses the indicative after cuando for things that are habitual or known:

• Cuando llego a casa, ceno. = When I get home, I have dinner.

But with future reference, Spanish often uses the subjunctive after cuando:

• Cuando el pato termine de picotear el suelo, se acercará a la cabra.
• When the duck finishes pecking the ground, it will approach the goat.

So the mood depends on whether the action is being treated as real/current/habitual or future/unrealized.

Yes, sin miedo literally means without fear.

In natural English, depending on style, it could be:

• without fear
• fearlessly
• unafraid

So:

• se acerca a la cabra sin miedo = it approaches the goat without fear
• or more naturally in some contexts: it approaches the goat fearlessly

Spanish often uses sin + noun where English might use an adverb:

• sin problema = without a problem / easily
• sin prisa = without hurry / unhurriedly
• sin miedo = without fear / fearlessly

Yes, but it is not exactly the same structure or rhythm.

Compare:

• Se acerca a la cabra sin miedo. = It approaches the goat without fear / fearlessly.
• Se acerca a la cabra y no tiene miedo. = It approaches the goat and is not afraid.

Both are understandable, but sin miedo is more compact and directly describes how the duck approaches the goat.

You could also say:

• Se acerca a la cabra sin tener miedo.

But that is less simple and less elegant than sin miedo.

Yes. The best translation depends on context.

• se acerca a la cabra can mean:
  • it approaches the goat
  • it comes closer to the goat
  • it moves toward the goat

All of these are good translations. Approach is the neatest direct equivalent, but in simple English, comes closer to the goat may feel more transparent to a learner.

It is natural and helpful here.

The first part is a subordinate clause introduced by cuando:

• Cuando el pato termina de picotear el suelo, ...

Then comes the main clause:

• se acerca a la cabra sin miedo.

In Spanish, when this kind of time clause comes first, a comma is commonly used to separate it from the main clause. It helps readability and matches the pause you would usually make.

You could say:

• El pato se acerca a la cabra sin miedo cuando termina de picotear el suelo.

This is grammatically correct, but it changes the flow a little. The original version highlights the time relationship first:

• Cuando el pato termina de picotear el suelo, se acerca a la cabra sin miedo.

That structure is very natural because it first sets the scene of when the action happens, and then gives the main action.

So both are possible, but the original sounds smoother and more typical for this kind of description.