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Sentence explanations

1. ¿Qué debo hacer de tarea?

   What should I do for homework?

   ¿Qué

   what

   debo

   should

   hacer

   do

   tarea

   homework

   More detail

   ¿Qué asks for the thing or activity being requested. The accent marks the interrogative form; compare que without an accent, which commonly introduces a statement or subordinate clause. Example: ¿Qué lees? — “What are you reading?” debo is the first-person singular present form of deber. Here, deber + infinitive expresses what the speaker should or needs to do: debo hacer means “I should do” or “I need to do.” The subject is included in the verb form, so no separate Spanish word for “I” is required. Example: Debo estudiar. — “I should study.” hacer is the infinitive “to do” or “to make.” After deber, it remains in the infinitive: debo hacer, not a conjugated form. Example: ¿Qué debo hacer? — “What should I do?” tarea is a feminine singular noun meaning “homework” or “assignment.” In the expression de tarea, it identifies the activity as homework: hacer de tarea is understood here as “do for homework.” The preposition de connects this noun with the activity; it does not itself mean a numerical quantity. Together, ¿Qué debo hacer de tarea? asks which activity the speaker should complete as homework: “What should I do for homework?” The reusable pattern is ¿Qué debo + infinitive ...?, meaning “What should I ...?”

2. Empieza completando este ejercicio.

   Start by completing this exercise.

   Empieza

   Start

   completando

   completing

   este

   this

   ejercicio

   exercise

   More detail

   Empieza is the affirmative command form of empezar for tú singular: “start.” The command addresses one person informally. In other contexts, empieza can also be the third-person singular present form (“he/she/it starts”), but here the instruction meaning and English translation support the tú command. completando is the gerund of completar, meaning “completing.” After empezar, Spanish can use empezar + gerund to say how an action begins: Empieza leyendo means “Start by reading.” The gerund does not mark the person; empieza carries the command form. Este means “this” here. It is the masculine singular demonstrative form, agreeing with ejercicio, which is masculine and singular. The corresponding feminine singular form is esta, as in esta actividad (“this activity”); plural forms include estos and estas. Ejercicio means “exercise.” Its plural is ejercicios. The phrase este ejercicio identifies one exercise as the object of completing, without adding any information about its content. Together, Empieza completando este ejercicio uses the pattern Empieza + gerund + noun phrase: “Start by completing this exercise.”`

3. ¿Qué página debo usar?

   Which page should I use?

   Qué

   which

   página

   page

   debo

   should

   usar

   use

   More detail

   Qué is the accented interrogative word used to ask which item is being identified. Here it modifies página, so ¿Qué página...? means “Which page...?” The accent distinguishes this question word from the unaccented relative/determiner que in forms such as la página que uso (“the page that I use”). página means “page.” It is a feminine singular noun, as shown by forms such as la página and una página; its plural is páginas. The noun is the thing selected by the question. debo is the first-person singular present form of deber. In this sentence, deber followed by an infinitive expresses what the speaker ought to or should do: debo usar = “I should use.” Other useful forms are debes (“you should”) and debe (“he, she, or you formal should”). usar is the infinitive “to use.” After deber, the infinitive names the action that is required or advisable, without adding a separate subject: debo usar literally combines “I should” with “use.” Example: Debo leer esta página. — “I should read this page.” Together, ¿Qué página asks the identity of the page, and debo usar asks which page the speaker should use. The complete utterance means “Which page should I use?”

4. Usa la página con las preguntas cortas.

   Use the page with the short questions.

   Usa

   Use

   página

   page

   con

   with

   preguntas

   questions

   cortas

   short

   More detail

   Usa is the affirmative command form of usar for tú (one person addressed informally). The present indicative form for “you use” is also usas, but the command is usa. Example: Usa este libro. — “Use this book.” página means “page.” It is a feminine noun, as shown here by la página; its plural is páginas. Example: La página está aquí. — “The page is here.” con is the preposition “with.” It links la página to the material associated with it: the page is the one with the questions. Example: Escribe con un lápiz. — “Write with a pencil.” preguntas is the plural of the feminine noun pregunta, “question.” The plural ending -s indicates more than one question. Example: Tengo dos preguntas. — “I have two questions.” cortas is the feminine plural form of the adjective corto, “short.” It agrees with preguntas in gender and number: pregunta corta is singular, and preguntas cortas is plural. Example: Son respuestas cortas. — “They are short answers.” Together, Usa la página gives the instruction “Use the page,” and con las preguntas cortas identifies which page: it is the page with the short questions. The complete utterance therefore means “Use the page with the short questions.”

5. ¿Cuándo debo terminarlo?

   When should I finish it?

   Cuándo

   when

   debo

   should; must

   terminarlo

   finish it

   More detail

   Cuándo asks about time: “when.” Its accent marks it as the interrogative form. Compare cuando without an accent in statements such as Te llamo cuando llegue (“I’ll call you when I arrive”). debo is the first-person singular present form of deber: debo, “I should” or “I must.” With an infinitive, deber + infinitive expresses obligation or advisability. Example: Debo estudiar. — “I should/must study.” terminarlo means “finish it.” It is the infinitive terminar (“to finish”) with the direct-object pronoun lo attached to it. Lo is masculine singular in form; here, the fixed translation supports the general meaning “it,” without identifying a specific noun. The same pronoun appears after the verb in the contextual command Termínalo, where the accent preserves the verb’s stress. Together, Cuándo asks about the time, debo expresses the speaker’s obligation or advisability, and terminarlo identifies the action and its object. The whole utterance therefore means “When should I finish it?”

6. Termínalo antes de clase.

   Finish it before class.

   Termínalo

   Finish it

   antes de

   before

   clase

   class

   More detail

   Termínalo is an affirmative command addressed to one person using the tú form. It comes from terminar (“to finish”): termina is the tú command, and the attached direct-object clitic lo means “it.” The written accent in Termínalo preserves the stress of termina when lo is attached. Here, lo refers to the thing to be finished; the sentence does not identify that thing by name. Compare Termínala when the direct object is feminine singular, and Termínalos or Termínalas with plural objects. Example: Termina el informe. — “Finish the report.” antes de introduces the time limit or point that comes later: “before.” It is followed here by the noun clase. With a verb, the reusable pattern is antes de + infinitive, as in Lávate las manos antes de comer. — “Wash your hands before eating.” Clase is a feminine singular noun meaning “class” here. Its base form is clase; the plural is clases. The phrase antes de clase means “before class,” with no article needed in this time expression. Together, Termínalo gives the tú command “finish it,” and antes de clase sets the deadline “before class.” The whole utterance therefore means “Finish it before class.”

7. ¿Puedes mirar mis respuestas más tarde?

   Can you look at my answers later?

   ¿Puedes

   can you

   mirar

   to look at

   mis

   my

   respuestas

   answers

   más tarde

   later

   More detail

   ¿Puedes is the second-person singular form of poder in the present tense. Here it asks whether one person can or is able to do something: ¿Puedes ayudarme? means “Can you help me?” The form addresses tú; it is not the formal singular puede or the plural pueden. mirar is the infinitive “to look at.” After a conjugated form of poder, Spanish uses an infinitive: Puedes mirar means “You can look at.” Example: ¿Puedes leer esto? — “Can you read this?” mis is the plural possessive determiner “my.” It agrees with the possessed noun in number, not with the possessor’s gender: mis respuestas is plural, while mi respuesta is singular. It identifies the answers as belonging to or being associated with the speaker; it does not specify how many possessors there are. respuestas is the plural of the noun respuesta, “answer” or “response.” The ending -s marks plural here: una respuesta means “an answer,” while mis respuestas means “my answers.” The article una is indefinite; in this example it does not by itself assert a numerical count of exactly one. más tarde is a time expression meaning “later,” referring to a time after the relevant present or another understood time. Example: Hablamos más tarde. — “We’ll talk later.” Together, ¿Puedes mirar asks whether the listener can perform the action mirar; mis respuestas specifies what the listener should look at; and más tarde places that action later in time. The whole utterance means, “Can you look at my answers later?”

8. Tráemelas después de terminar.

   Bring them to me after you finish.

   Tráemelas

   bring them to me

   después de

   after

   terminar

   finish

   More detail

   Tráemelas combines trae + me + las. Trae is the affirmative tú command of traer (“bring”); the accent marks the stressed pronunciation when the pronouns are attached. Me is the indirect-object pronoun “to me.” Las is the feminine plural direct-object pronoun, referring here to the answers mentioned in the preceding context. Together, the form means “bring them to me.” después de is a reusable pattern meaning “after.” It is followed here by an infinitive rather than a conjugated verb: después de + infinitive = “after doing something.” Terminar is the infinitive of terminar, “to finish.” In this sentence, the understood subject is the person being addressed by the command, so después de terminar means “after you finish.” The infinitive itself does not mark a separate person or tense. The whole sentence assembles as: Tráemelas (“Bring them to me”) + después de terminar (“after you finish”). The complete meaning is “Bring them to me after you finish.”