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Mi hermana va a nadar en el lago.

Mi hermana va a nadar en el lago.
My sister is going to swim in the lake.
From Lesson 71:The Natural World·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Mi hermana va a nadar en el lago.

Why do we need the word a in va a nadar? Can I just say va nadar?
You must include the a. In Spanish, to say you are going to do something, you use a form of the verb ir (to go), plus the word a, plus the main action verb in its basic, unaltered form. So, va a nadar is the required formula for 'is going to swim'.
Is va a present tense or future tense verb here?
Va is the present tense form of ir (to go) for 'she'. However, when you use the special formula of the verb ir plus a plus an action like nadar, the entire phrase talks about a future plan. It works exactly like the English phrase 'is going to'.
Could en el lago also mean 'on the lake' or 'at the lake'?
Yes, it could! The Spanish preposition en is very flexible and translates to 'in', 'on', or 'at' depending on the context. Here, since the action is swimming, 'in the lake' makes the most sense in English, but en covers all three English words.
If I wanted to say 'my sisters' instead, would I just change hermana to hermanas?
You would also need to change mi to mis. In Spanish, possessive words like mi (my) must match whether the person or thing you are talking about is singular or plural. So, 'My sisters are going...' would start with Mis hermanas van...

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