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¿Por qué no empiezas a jugar tenis con nosotros?

¿Por qué no empiezas a jugar tenis con nosotros?
Why don't you start playing tennis with us?
From Lesson 86:Starting actions (empezar a)·Spanish (Latin America)

Breakdown of ¿Por qué no empiezas a jugar tenis con nosotros?

no
no, not
nosotros
we
con
with
a
to
por qué
why
empezar
to start / to begin
jugar
to play
el tenis
tennis

Questions & Answers about ¿Por qué no empiezas a jugar tenis con nosotros?

Why does the Spanish sentence use jugar (to play) instead of an -ing word for "playing"?
In English, we often say "start playing". But in Spanish, the rule for starting an action is to use empezar a followed by the infinitive (the basic, unconjugated form of the verb). So, it must be empiezas a jugar, never empiezas a jugando.
Do I always need the a between empiezas and the next verb?
Yes! Whenever you say you are starting to do something, the formula is empezar a + infinitive. You cannot skip the a. Note: If you just start a thing, like a game or a movie, you don't need the a (for example, empiezas el juego).
Why is it spelled empiezas instead of empezas?
The infinitive verb is empezar, but it is a stem-changing verb. In the present tense, the second e changes to ie for most subjects, including the tú (you) form. That gives us empiezas.
I've seen jugar al tenis before. Why is it just jugar tenis here?
In Spain, it is standard to use a + el (al) with sports, making it jugar al tenis. However, in Latin American Spanish, it is very common to drop the al and place the sport directly after the verb, like jugar tenis or jugar béisbol.

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