Learn Spanish (Spain): Caminar todos los días es un hábito muy saludable. - Walking every day is a very healthy habit.

Caminar todos los días es un hábito muy saludable.

Walking every day is a very healthy habit.

Breakdown of Caminar todos los días es un hábito muy saludable.

Questions & Answers about Caminar todos los días es un hábito muy saludable.

Why is the infinitive caminar used here instead of a gerund like in English ("walking")?

In Spanish, when an action is the subject of a sentence, you must use the infinitive (caminar). Unlike English, Spanish never uses the gerund (words ending in -ando or -iendo) to act as a noun.

Could I say cada día instead of todos los días?

Yes, both mean "every day" and are usually interchangeable. Todos los días is very common for routine habits, treating the days as a collective group, while cada día translates more closely to "each day" and emphasizes the individual days.

Why do we use es instead of está?

We use the verb ser (es) because we are defining what kind of thing the habit is. Even though a person's health can be a temporary state (which would use estar), describing a habit as healthy gives it a permanent, defining characteristic.

Is there a difference between saludable and sano?

They are very similar, but there is a slight nuance. Saludable is typically used for things that promote health, like a diet or a habit. Sano is often used to describe the state of a person or animal that is currently in good health, though native speakers frequently use them interchangeably.