Breakdown of El sábado voy a la playa para descansar.
para
for / in order to (+ infinitive) / by (a deadline)
ir
to go
a
to
la playa
the beach
el sábado
the Saturday
descansar
to rest
Questions & Answers about El sábado voy a la playa para descansar.
Why does the sentence use El sábado instead of a word for "on"?
In English, we say "on Saturday", but in Spanish, you never use a direct translation for the word "on" with days of the week. Instead, you just use the masculine "the" word, el. So, el sábado literally means "the Saturday", but it translates perfectly to "on Saturday".
If I wanted to say I do this "on Saturdays" (every Saturday), how would it change?
Why is there an a between voy and la playa?
The verb ir (to go), which is conjugated here as voy (I go), requires the preposition a (to) when you are stating your destination. Together, voy a la playa gives us "I go to the beach".
Why do we use para before descansar, and why isn't the verb conjugated?
In Spanish, para is often used to mean "in order to" when showing the goal or purpose of an action. When a verb immediately follows a preposition like para, it must stay in its full dictionary form (the infinitive). So, para descansar means "in order to rest" or simply "to rest".
Learn El sábado voy a la playa para descansar and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free