Spanish language Q&A Forum

the words "such as" in the text do not appear in the Spanish translation

Hello, in this sentence

"Mi madre usa el teléfono móvil para hacer llamadas o mandar mensajes."

During the challenge it appeared that both "hacer llamadas" and "mandar mensajes" would need their own "para", due to the way in which the sentence was broken up.  I can see now in the full text that "in order to" applies to the sentence "make calls or send mesages" but in the challenge I added a "para" for each sentence.

Is it just me or could this be tidied up?

Thanks

It seems I have considerable confusion over when to use a definite/indefinite article before a noun. I know it is needed when using gustar (e.g., me gusta el chocolate), but I have confusion in other contexts. For example, for the prompt "you need to have strong legs",  I wrote necesitas tener las piernas fuertes, but the correct answer was "necesitas tener piernas fuertes" --- without the article. What's the rule on this? 

My other confusion appears to be with the use of possessives. The prompt was "I'm going to exercise my muscles". I wrote voy a ejercitar los músculos but the correct answer was "voy a ejercitar mis músculos". It seems I'm confusing the rule of not using the possessive adjective as is required in such phrases as "My head is hurting"  --- "Me duelo la cabeza" , or "I raise my hand" -- "Me levanto la mano".  Please help me to know the difference for when I can (have) to use the possessive adjective versus when it is not used.

Thank you and I look forward to some clarity (finally) on these two issues.

Regards,

Pati Ecuamiga