Learn Spanish (Latin America): Ellos estudian por la tarde.

Ellos estudian por la tarde.

They study in the afternoon.

Breakdown of Ellos estudian por la tarde.

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Questions & Answers about Ellos estudian por la tarde.

Why does it use por instead of en to mean "in the"?

When talking about general parts of the day like the morning, afternoon, or night, Spanish traditionally uses por to mean "during" or "in". While you will often hear people in Latin America say en la tarde, using por la tarde is a very standard and safe way to say it everywhere.

The lesson is about telling time with a las. How do I say they study at a specific time in the afternoon?

If you add a specific time, you stop using por and use de instead. For example, "They study at 3:00 in the afternoon" would be Ellos estudian a las tres de la tarde. Since this sentence only mentions the afternoon generally without an exact hour, we stick with por.

Do I always need to include the word Ellos?

No, you can drop it and just say Estudian por la tarde. Because the verb estudian ends in -an, we already know the subject is "they" (or "you all"). Including Ellos just adds a little emphasis or clarifies exactly who you are talking about.

When exactly does la tarde start and end in Spanish?