Desde la playa hasta el faro hay cien escalones, y mi hija quiso contarlos todos.

Desde ... hasta ... is the standard way to say from ... to ... when you are marking the limits of a space, time period, or range.

So:

• desde la playa = from the beach
• hasta el faro = to / as far as the lighthouse

Together they define the stretch between those two points.

Hay is used to say that something exists or there is/there are something somewhere.

So:

• hay cien escalones = there are one hundred steps

You would not normally use estar here, because the sentence is not mainly describing the location of specific known steps. It is introducing their existence in that stretch.

A useful comparison:

• Hay cien escalones hasta el faro. = There are a hundred steps up to the lighthouse.
• Los escalones están mojados. = The steps are wet.

Also, hay does not change for singular or plural:

• hay un escalón
• hay cien escalones

In Spanish, cien is used for exactly 100 when it comes directly before a noun.

• cien escalones = one hundred steps

Ciento is used:

• in numbers above 100: ciento uno, ciento veinte
• sometimes when 100 stands alone in certain expressions

So here, because it is exactly 100 and followed by a noun, cien is correct.

This is a very common question.

• escalón = a single step
• escalones = steps
• escalera can mean a staircase or stairs as a structure

In this sentence, escalones is used because the daughter wants to count them individually. You count steps, not usually the staircase as one object.

So:

• hay cien escalones = there are a hundred individual steps

Spanish often uses definite articles with common nouns where English may or may not use the.

Here:

• la playa = the beach
• el faro = the lighthouse

This sounds natural in Spanish because the sentence refers to specific, identifiable places in the context.

This is about the difference between the preterite and the imperfect.

• quiso = preterite of querer
• quería = imperfect of querer

Here, quiso is used because it refers to a specific completed moment or decision in the past: at that moment, the daughter wanted / decided / tried to count them.

By contrast, quería would sound more like an ongoing state or background description:

• mi hija quería contarlos todos = my daughter wanted to count them all / used to want to count them all

So quiso fits a single past event better.

It can sometimes suggest both, depending on context.

With querer + infinitive in the preterite, Spanish can imply a specific attempt or intention:

• quiso contarlos todos

This can mean:

• she wanted to count them all
• and in some contexts, almost she tried to count them all

The exact nuance depends on the wider context. On its own, wanted to is the safest translation, but learners should know that the preterite of querer can sometimes feel more active than simple English wanted.

Contarlos is made of:

• contar = to count
• los = them

So contarlos means to count them.

In Spanish, object pronouns can be attached to an infinitive:

• contarlos = to count them

Or they can go before the conjugated verb:

• los quiso contar = she wanted to count them

Both are correct. Attaching the pronoun to the infinitive is very common and natural.

Los refers back to cien escalones.

Because escalones is:

• masculine
• plural

the pronoun must also be masculine plural:

• los = them

If the noun were feminine plural, you would use las instead.

Todos adds the idea of all of them.

So:

• contarlos = to count them
• contarlos todos = to count them all

It agrees with escalones, which is masculine plural, so it must be todos.

Compare:

• los libros → leerlos todos
• las casas → verlas todas

Yes. That is also grammatically correct.

Spanish often allows object pronouns in two positions with a conjugated verb + infinitive:

• quiso contarlos todos
• los quiso contar todos

Both mean the same thing. The version in your sentence is especially natural and compact.

Spanish often omits subject pronouns like yo, tú, ella, because the verb ending already gives that information.

But here mi hija is not just a pronoun: it is a full noun phrase, and it is included because the speaker wants to say specifically my daughter did this.

If you removed it, you would lose that information:

• quiso contarlos todos = she/he wanted to count them all

So mi hija is there because it identifies who the person is.

Spanish usually does not always put a comma before y, but it can appear when two clauses are joined and the pause is natural, especially if the clauses are fairly long or have different subjects.

Here the comma separates:

• Desde la playa hasta el faro hay cien escalones
• mi hija quiso contarlos todos

It helps readability and sounds natural. You may also see similar sentences written without the comma, depending on style.

Yes, that is possible.

Both are grammatical:

• Desde la playa hasta el faro hay cien escalones
• Hay cien escalones desde la playa hasta el faro

The version in your sentence puts the route first, so it sets the scene before giving the information about the steps. That word order is very natural in Spanish.

The h in Spanish is silent, so hija is pronounced roughly like EE-ha.

In Spain, the j is pronounced with a strong throaty sound, not like English j.

So:

• hija is not like English hij-a or hee-ja
• it is closer to EE-kha / EE-ha depending on how you approximate the Spanish sound

The important point for a learner is: the h is silent.