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Él va despacito al deslizarse por el suelo rocoso.

Él va despacito al deslizarse por el suelo rocoso.
He goes very slowly when sliding on the rocky floor.
From Lesson 390:Superlatives with the subjunctive (el más... que)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Él va despacito al deslizarse por el suelo rocoso.

Why is despacito used here instead of muy despacio?
Adding the diminutive -ito to adverbs like despacio (slowly) is very common in everyday Latin American Spanish. It often intensifies the meaning, translating to 'very slowly' or 'nice and slow,' while giving the sentence a slightly softer, more conversational tone.
Why does the sentence use al before deslizarse?
The structure al + infinitive is a highly common way to say 'upon doing [something]' or 'when doing [something]'. In this case, al deslizarse is a concise, natural way to express 'when sliding' or 'as he slides'.
Why is the pronoun se attached to the end of deslizarse?
The verb here is deslizarse, a pronominal verb meaning 'to slide' or 'to glide' (as a movement the subject is performing themselves). Because the verb is in its infinitive form following al, the pronoun se must be tacked directly onto the end of the word.
Why use por instead of en for 'on the rocky floor'?
While en generally means 'on' or 'in' a stationary location, por is used to indicate movement along, through, or across a physical space. Because the subject is actively sliding across the surface of the floor, por el suelo rocoso is the grammatically correct choice for expressing motion.

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