Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): La científica anunció un descubrimiento importante sobre una nueva galaxia. - The scientist announced an important discovery about a new galaxy.

In Spanish, nouns and their articles must match in gender and number. The ending -a typically marks a feminine noun (el científico → la científica), so we use the feminine singular article la. If the scientist were male, you’d say el científico.

Why is anunció in the simple past (preterite) and not in the present or present perfect?

Anunció is the third-person singular preterite of anunciar, used for actions completed at a specific point in the past (she made the announcement). If you said ha anunciado, that’s the present perfect—used for past events still linked to the present. Here the focus is simply on “what happened” (she announced).

Could we use informó or comunicó instead of anunció? Are they interchangeable?

They are similar but carry slight nuances: • Anunciar emphasizes making something known publicly (e.g., an official statement).
• Informar is more general “to inform” or “to report,” often less formal.
• Comunicar focuses on “communicate” or “convey” information.
In a scientific context, anunció highlights the formal public announcement.

Why is the adjective importante placed after descubrimiento instead of before?

Most descriptive adjectives in Spanish follow the noun (descubrimiento importante). Placing importante before could add a poetic or subjective emphasis (un importante descubrimiento), but the neutral, default position is after.

What does sobre mean here? Could we use de or acerca de instead?

Sobre means “about” or “concerning” a topic.
• You could say acerca de for a more formal “about.”
• de can also work but with a nuance: el descubrimiento de una nueva galaxia implies she discovered the galaxy itself, while descubrimiento sobre una nueva galaxia means she made an important finding regarding that galaxy.

Why is it una nueva galaxia and not la nueva galaxia?

Una is the indefinite article, introducing “a new galaxy” for the first time—unknown to the listener. La nueva galaxia would suggest both speaker and listener know exactly which galaxy you’re talking about (definite).

Is it okay to say nueva galaxia instead of galaxia nueva?

Yes. Both orders are grammatically correct: • nueva galaxia is more common and neutral.
• galaxia nueva can sometimes stress the “newness” as a surprising or notable trait. The default descriptive position is usually before the noun for adjectives like nuevo, but context can shift the emphasis.