Question 1

Why is there a que between tengo and hacer?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, when you want to say you "have to" do something, you use the special phrase tener que followed by an infinitive verb (a basic, unconjugated verb ending in -ar, -er, or -ir). Here, tengo que means "I have to," and hacer is the infinitive "to make." You can never just say tengo hacer!

Question 2

I thought hacer meant "to do". Why is it translated as "to make" here?

Accepted Answer

The verb hacer is super versatile and means both "to do" and "to make" in English. You will use it for making physical things (like hacer el desayuno) and for doing activities (like doing your homework).

Question 3

Why does the Spanish sentence say el desayuno ("the breakfast") when the English translation just says "breakfast"?

Accepted Answer

In English, we usually skip the "the" and just say "make breakfast" or "eat dinner." In Spanish, it is very common to include the definite article (el or la) when talking about meals. So, "to make breakfast" naturally translates to hacer el desayuno.

Question 4

Where is the word for "I" (yo) in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Because the verb tengo is specifically the "I" form of the verb tener, the word yo ("I") is already built into the verb. Spanish speakers usually drop the subject pronoun unless they need to add emphasis or clear up confusion.

Mañana tengo que hacer el desayuno.

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