Breakdown of Antes de la entrevista, actualicé mi currículum y leí el anuncio de la vacante otra vez.
yo
I
mi
my
de
of
y
and
leer
to read
antes de
before
otra vez
again
la entrevista
the interview
actualizar
to update
el currículum
the résumé
el anuncio
the advertisement
la vacante
the vacancy
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Questions & Answers about Antes de la entrevista, actualicé mi currículum y leí el anuncio de la vacante otra vez.
Why does “Antes de la entrevista” use de before the noun?
When you say “before” plus a noun in Spanish, you must use antes de. So antes de la entrevista literally means “before the interview.” If you want to follow antes de with an action instead of a noun, you use the infinitive, e.g. antes de salir (“before leaving”).
Why is there a comma after “entrevista” but not before “y”?
Spanish places a comma after introductory phrases like Antes de la entrevista. You do not put a comma before y when it simply links two verbs (both with the same subject) in a simple sentence.
Why is the subject pronoun yo omitted in “actualicé” and “leí”?
Spanish verbs are conjugated to indicate the subject. The endings -é and -í already tell you it’s yo in the preterite, so adding yo is unnecessary (though grammatically correct for emphasis).
Why is there an accent on the í in currículum?
Currículum is an esdrújula word (stress on the third-to-last syllable: cur-rí-cu-lum). Spanish rules require all esdrújulas to carry a written accent.
Why is there an accent on the é in actualicé?
1) Actualicé is the first-person singular preterite of actualizar. In the preterite, the yo and él/ella forms of -ar verbs always carry an accent on the final vowel (e.g. hablé, cantó).
2) Without the accent (actualice), it would be interpreted as present-subjunctive or a formal command, not past tense.
Why is there an accent on the í in leí?
Leí is the first-person singular preterite of leer. The accent:
1) Marks stress on the final syllable.
2) Breaks the potential diphthong ei into a hiato, so it’s two syllables le-í instead of one.
Why is the preterite used here instead of the present perfect (he actualizado, he leído)?
In Latin American Spanish, completed past actions—especially with clear time markers like antes de—are almost always expressed with the preterite. The present perfect is far less common in Latin America and tends to sound more European.
What does anuncio de la vacante mean, and why “la vacante”?
- Anuncio here means advertisement or announcement.
- Vacante means job opening or vacancy.
You use la vacante (definite article) because you’re referring to a specific opening: el anuncio de la vacante (“the announcement of the vacancy”).
What does otra vez mean, and can I use de nuevo?
Both otra vez and de nuevo translate as again. You can say either:
- leí el anuncio otra vez
- leí el anuncio de nuevo
No significant meaning difference; otra vez is slightly more colloquial.
When should y change to e, and why isn’t it changed here?
The conjunction y becomes e when the next word begins with an i-sound (e.g. padre e hijo, agua e hielo). Here leí starts with an l-sound, so you keep y leí.