Learn Spanish (Spain): ¿Qué le regalas a tu hermana?

¿Qué le regalas a tu hermana?

What are you giving your sister?

Breakdown of ¿Qué le regalas a tu hermana?

Questions & Answers about ¿Qué le regalas a tu hermana?

Why do we need both le and a tu hermana in this sentence?

In Spanish, it is very common and usually required to include the indirect object pronoun (le) even when you specifically name the person receiving the action (a tu hermana). The le acts as a grammatical marker that goes before the verb, while a tu hermana comes after to clarify exactly who that le refers to.

Since le already means "to her", isn't a tu hermana redundant?

To an English speaker, yes! But this redundancy is a core rule of Spanish grammar. You almost always need the pronoun (le or les) to show the verb is affecting someone. Because le could mean "to him", "to her", or "to you (formal)", adding the phrase starting with a removes the ambiguity.

Why use regalas instead of das?

The verb dar is the general word for "to give", like simply handing someone a glass of water. The verb regalar specifically means "to give a gift" or "to present". Since this sentence is asking about getting a present for a sister, regalas is the most accurate and natural word to use.

The English translation says "What are you giving...", so why isn't a continuous tense used here?

While Spanish does have a present continuous tense, it relies on the simple present tense (regalas) much more often than English does. The simple present frequently covers ongoing actions or near-future plans, making it the perfect choice when asking about a gift you are planning to give someone for an upcoming occasion.