Learn Spanish (Latin America): Espero que él camine de puntillas para la broma.

Espero que él camine de puntillas para la broma.

I hope he walks on tiptoe for the prank.

Breakdown of Espero que él camine de puntillas para la broma.

to wait / to hope / to expect

Questions & Answers about Espero que él camine de puntillas para la broma.

Why is the pronoun él included before camine?

Because the present subjunctive forms for yo and él/ella/usted are identical (they all use camine). Including él clarifies that you are hoping he walks on tiptoe, rather than hoping you do it.

Literally, what does de puntillas mean?

The word puntilla is the diminutive of punta (point or tip). Walking de puntillas translates literally to walking "on little tips," which is the standard Spanish expression for walking on tiptoe.

Why do we use para instead of por before la broma?

We use para because the prank is the intended purpose or goal of the action (he is sneaking around in order to execute the prank). If you used por, it would change the meaning to him sneaking around because of a prank.

Since this lesson focuses on sin que (without), how would I add "without anyone noticing" to this sentence?

You would use sin que followed by the subjunctive, since this phrase always triggers the subjunctive to show a negative condition. You could add sin que nadie se dé cuenta (without anyone noticing) to the end of the sentence.