Breakdown of Mi abuelo suele dormir la siesta para relajarse.
el abuelo
the grandfather
mi
my
para
for
dormir
to sleep
soler
to usually do / to tend to
la siesta
the nap
relajarse
to relax
Questions & Answers about Mi abuelo suele dormir la siesta para relajarse.
How does the verb suele translate to "usually"?
Suele is the "he/she/it" form of the verb soler, which means "to tend to" or "to be in the habit of" doing something. Instead of using an adverb like usualmente, Spanish speakers frequently use soler followed directly by an infinitive (like dormir) to express that someone usually does something. Notice that soler has an o to ue stem change in the present tense!
Why does the sentence use dormir la siesta instead of translating "take a nap" directly?
Why do we use para instead of por before relajarse?
Here, para means "in order to". It is used to express the purpose, goal, or intention of an action. Whenever you want to say you do something "in order to" achieve a specific result, you always use para followed by an infinitive verb.
Why is se attached to the end of relajarse?
Relajar means "to relax," and adding the reflexive pronoun se makes it relajarse ("to relax oneself"). Because the grandfather is relaxing his own mind and body, the reflexive form is required. When a verb is in its infinitive (unconjugated) form, pronouns like se get attached right to the end of the word.
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