Spanish language Q&A Forum

Ya tienen tres niñas, ojalá el próximo sea un niño.

vs.

Ya tienen tres niñas, ojalá el próximo será un niño.

Could both of these be correct?  Or would it have to be the former simply because of the need for the subjunctive mood following ojalá?  The english side of my brain wants the latter to be correct too... (something like "they already have three girls; hopefully the next one will be a boy.")

In the test the question is "Coloca las plantas _____ sol." I understand that "al" is the correct answer as far as a contraction, but why do you use "a" in this instance? Why is it not "en el sol"?

I'm almost 2 years into learning Spanish and I get lost after hearing a couple of words if I close my eyes.  I watch shows and listen to Spanish podcast, and my ear for Spanish has not developed at all.  What could I possible do to change this?

can you explain why, even though we're talking about a female, we would say "trabajas duro"? Gracias!