Question 1

How could I express this exact same idea using the "future of probability" taught in this lesson?

Accepted Answer

Instead of using me pregunto (I wonder), you can use the future tense to express a guess or wonder about the present. You would drop me pregunto and change the main verb to the future tense: ¿Por qué caminarán tan apresurados? (Why might they be walking / I wonder why they walk so hurriedly?). Both ways are very common!

Question 2

Why is it me pregunto and not just pregunto?

Accepted Answer

The verb preguntar means to ask someone else a question. When you use it reflexively as preguntarse (by adding me, te, se, etc.), it literally means to ask oneself. In English, we naturally translate this as to wonder.

Question 3

Why is apresurados plural? Doesn't it translate to the adverb "hurriedly"?

Accepted Answer

While English uses the adverb hurriedly, Spanish often uses an adjective to describe how someone performs an action, especially with verbs of motion like caminar. Because apresurados acts as an adjective here, it must agree with the subject. It is masculine and plural to match the implied they (ellos) who are walking.

Question 4

Why do we use tan here instead of tanto?

Accepted Answer

Tan translates to "so" and is used immediately before adjectives (like apresurados) or adverbs. You use tanto to mean "so much" or "so many", which is used before nouns or directly after verbs.

Siempre me pregunto por qué caminan tan apresurados.

Breakdown of Siempre me pregunto por qué caminan tan apresurados.

Questions & Answers about Siempre me pregunto por qué caminan tan apresurados.

Learn Siempre me pregunto por qué caminan tan apresurados and more in Spanish