Breakdown of Ella asumió la responsabilidad del proyecto y la cumplió con éxito.
con
with
ella
she
de
of
y
and
el proyecto
the project
la
it
el éxito
the success
cumplir
to fulfill
asumir
to take on
la responsabilidad
the responsibility
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Questions & Answers about Ella asumió la responsabilidad del proyecto y la cumplió con éxito.
What does asumió mean here, and why is it in this form?
Asumió is the third-person singular preterite of asumir, which means “to take on” or “to assume.” Using the preterite (asumió) indicates that she completed the action of taking on the responsibility at a specific point in the past. Conjugation in the preterite for asumir is regular:
• yo asumí
• tú asumiste
• él/ella asumió
…etc.
Why is there la before cumplió? Does cumplir take a direct object?
Yes. When cumplir means “to carry out” or “to fulfill,” it can take a direct object. Here la is the feminine singular direct-object pronoun referring back to la responsabilidad. So la cumplió literally means “she fulfilled it.”
What’s the difference between saying cumplir algo and cumplir con algo?
• cumplir algo (direct object) = “to accomplish/fulfill something” (e.g., cumplir la tarea = “to complete the task”).
• cumplir con algo = “to comply with something,” “to meet a requirement/obligation” (e.g., cumplir con las normas = “to comply with the rules”).
In your sentence, cumplir is directly acting on la responsabilidad, so no con is needed.
Why “con éxito” instead of the adverb “exitosamente”?
Both are correct, but con éxito is far more common in everyday speech and writing. Exitosamente exists and is understood, but many native speakers prefer the prepositional phrase con éxito to describe doing something successfully.
Why do we say del proyecto instead of de el proyecto?
In Spanish, de + el contracts to del whenever they appear together. So responsabilidad del proyecto is just the standard contraction of responsabilidad de el proyecto.
Could we say tomó la responsabilidad del proyecto instead of asumió?
Yes, tomar la responsabilidad is acceptable and means “to take responsibility.” However, asumir is slightly more formal and emphasizes “accepting” or “acknowledging” that responsibility, whereas tomar is more neutral or colloquial.
Why is it la responsabilidad and not just responsabilidad?
When you refer to a specific instance of an abstract noun in Spanish, a definite article is generally required. Here we’re talking about that particular responsibility (the one tied to the project), so you need la to make it clear. Without la, the phrase would sound too general or incomplete.