Question 1

Why is construyó spelled with an accent on the ó?

Accepted Answer

Because construyó is the third-person singular preterite form of construir. In Spanish preterite tense, verbs whose stem ends in a vowel add a y in the third-person forms (él/ella), and they carry an accent on the final ó to show the stress falls there and to distinguish it from the present-tense construyo (I build).

Question 2

Why do we use the preterite tense (construyó) instead of the present or another past tense?

Accepted Answer

The preterite is used because the action of building the robot is viewed as a completed, one-time event. If we wanted to emphasize the ongoing nature of building, we might use the imperfect (e.g., construía) or the present perfect (e.g., ha construido), but here the speaker simply states a finished action in the past.

Question 3

Why is the adjective pequeño placed before the noun robot instead of after it?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, most adjectives come after the noun, but certain common adjectives—especially those of size, quantity, or inherent qualities—often precede the noun for style or emphasis.  
- Un pequeño robot (emphasis on “tiny robot” as a whole concept)  
- Un robot pequeño (more neutral, describing its size)

Both orders are correct; placing pequeño before is slightly more idiomatic when casually introducing a small gadget.

Question 4

What is the role of the lo in lo controla?

Accepted Answer

Lo is a third-person masculine direct-object pronoun that replaces el robot. Instead of repeating “el robot,” Spanish often uses a pronoun:
- Mi hermano construyó un pequeño robot y (él) controla el robot con su teléfono.  
Becomes:  
- Mi hermano construyó un pequeño robot y lo controla con su teléfono.

Question 5

Could we say controla el robot instead of lo controla?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Saying controla el robot is perfectly grammatical. However, once you’ve mentioned “el robot,” using lo avoids repetition and sounds more natural in conversation.

Question 6

Why su teléfono and not el teléfono?

Accepted Answer

Su teléfono specifies that it’s his phone (the brother’s). If you said el teléfono, you’d be talking about a particular phone in context, but you wouldn’t be clarifying whose it is. Su is a possessive adjective showing ownership.

Question 7

Can we use celular or móvil instead of teléfono in Latin America?

Accepted Answer

Yes. In most of Latin America, celular is the standard word for a mobile phone.  
- …y lo controla con su celular.  
In Spain, móvil is more common, but teléfono is understood everywhere.

Question 8

Why is the sentence mixing past and present tenses (construyó … controla)?

Accepted Answer

The past tense (construyó) tells us when the robot was built—an event that’s finished. The present tense (controla) describes the current state: he now controls it. It’s common to switch tenses when one action is completed in the past and another is ongoing in the present.

Question 9

Could we rephrase the second part to emphasize the action in progress, like lo está controlando?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely.  
- Mi hermano construyó un pequeño robot y lo está controlando con su teléfono.  
That uses the present progressive to highlight that he is controlling it right now. Both versions are correct; it just changes the focus slightly.

Mi hermano construyó un pequeño robot y lo controla con su teléfono.

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