Learn Spanish (Latin America): Yo quiero tener una vida saludable.

Yo quiero tener una vida saludable.

I want to have a healthy life.

Breakdown of Yo quiero tener una vida saludable.

Questions & Answers about Yo quiero tener una vida saludable.

Why is tener left in its full dictionary form instead of being conjugated?

When you want to say you want to do something, you conjugate the first verb (querer, which becomes quiero here) and leave the second verb in its infinitive (unconjugated) form. So, quiero tener translates literally to 'I want to have'. You only conjugate the verb that does the action of wanting!

Could I just say Quiero tener una vida saludable without the Yo?

Yes, absolutely! In Spanish, the ending of the verb usually tells you who is doing the action. Since quiero only ever means 'I want', the Yo is optional and is usually dropped in everyday conversation unless you want to add emphasis.

Why does saludable come after vida?

In English, descriptive adjectives come before the noun ('healthy life'). In Spanish, they almost always come after the noun they describe. So you literally say 'a life healthy' (una vida saludable).

Since vida is a feminine word, shouldn't saludable end in an 'a'?

Not in this case! Adjectives that end in -o usually change to -a for feminine nouns, but adjectives that end in -e (like saludable, inteligente, or grande) are gender-neutral. They stay exactly the same whether they describe a masculine or a feminine noun.