Word
Él avanza por ese carril sin mirar.
Meaning
He moves down that lane without looking.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Él avanza por ese carril sin mirar.
él
he
mirar
to look at / to watch
ese
that (masculine)
por
for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)
Questions & Answers about Él avanza por ese carril sin mirar.
Why is it sin mirar instead of sin mirando if the English translation uses an "-ing" word?
In English, we use the "-ing" form after prepositions, like "without looking". In Spanish, however, you must always use the infinitive form of a verb after a preposition. Therefore, it is sin mirar, never sin mirando.
How does this fit with our current lesson on using aun + gerund?
If you want to say "even without looking", you would use aun sin mirar. Because of the preposition sin, you still follow the rule of using the infinitive. You only use the gerund in positive concessive phrases, like aun mirando (even looking).
Why use por instead of en for "down that lane"?
Por is the go-to preposition for movement along, down, or through a space. Avanzar por captures the physical travel along the lane. Using en might just mean the event of advancing happened to take place in that lane, missing the dynamic sense of traveling down its length.
Does carril apply to all types of lanes?
Yes, carril is used for traffic lanes on a street or highway, but you will also see it used for swimming lanes in a pool, running lanes on an athletic track, and even the rails of a train track.