Breakdown of ¿Por qué trabajas el jueves y el viernes?
y
and
trabajar
to work
por qué
why
el jueves
Thursday
el viernes
Friday
Questions & Answers about ¿Por qué trabajas el jueves y el viernes?
Where is the word for "on" in this sentence?
In Spanish, you don't use a separate word for "on" with days of the week. Instead, you just use the masculine word for "the" (el or los). So, el jueves literally translates to "the Thursday", but it means "on Thursday" in English.
Jueves and viernes end in an "s". Are they plural here?
No, they are singular! The Spanish words for Monday through Friday naturally end in an "s" (lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves, viernes). Because the sentence uses the singular article el, we know it means one specific Thursday and Friday. If you wanted to say "on Thursdays" (plural), you would change the article to plural: los jueves.
Why is Por qué written as two words with an accent?
When it is used as a question word meaning "why", it is always written as two words with an accent on the e (por qué). When written as one single word without an accent (porque), it means "because".
How do we know it means "Why do you work" if the word for "you" isn't there?
The verb trabajas ends in -as, which is the specific ending for tú (the informal "you"). Because the ending makes it clear who is working, Spanish speakers usually drop the word tú.
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