Mi mentora me llamó para aclarar la duda.

My mentor called me to clarify the question.

Breakdown of Mi mentora me llamó para aclarar la duda.

• mi: my
• para: to
• llamar: to call
• aclarar: to clarify
• la duda: the question
• la mentora: the mentor
• me: myself

Questions & Answers about Mi mentora me llamó para aclarar la duda.

Why does it say mi mentora and not mi mentor?

Mentora is the feminine form of mentor. Spanish nouns and many job titles change form to match the person’s gender:

• male mentor: mi mentor
• female mentor: mi mentora
  In many Latin American contexts, you’ll hear both, but mentora is common and clear when the mentor is a woman.

What does me mean in me llamó, and why is it there?

Me is an object pronoun meaning me (the person receiving the call).
Mi mentora me llamó literally = My mentor called me.
Spanish often uses these small pronouns before the verb instead of repeating the noun:

• Mi mentora llamó a Carlos. (called Carlos)
• Mi mentora lo llamó. (called him)
• Mi mentora me llamó. (called me)

If llamar is “to call,” why isn’t there an a before me?

When the object is a noun/name, Spanish uses the personal a: llamó a Juan.
But with object pronouns (me, te, lo/la, nos, los/las), the a disappears because the pronoun already replaces the whole a + person phrase:

• Llamó a Juan → Lo llamó
• Me llamó already contains the idea of “called + me”

Why is llamó in that form, and what does the accent mark do?

Llamó is preterite (simple past) for he/she/you(formal) called.
The accent in llamó is required and also helps distinguish it from other forms:

• llamo (no accent) = I call / I’m calling
• llamó (accent) = he/she called

Could this mean “My mentor called me” on the phone specifically, or just “called” in general?

In Latin American Spanish, llamar commonly implies a phone call in context, and me llamó is very natural for called me (on the phone).
If you want to be extra explicit, you can say:

• Mi mentora me llamó por teléfono.
• Mi mentora me llamó al celular. (on my cell phone)

Why use para + infinitive (para aclarar) here?

Para + infinitive expresses purpose: in order to / to.
So me llamó para aclarar la duda = she called me to clear up the doubt/question.
If the subject changes, you typically switch to para que + subjunctive:

• Me llamó para que yo aclarara la duda. (she called so that I would clear it up)

What does aclarar la duda mean, and are there other common ways to say it?

Aclarar la duda means to clear up the doubt / to resolve the uncertainty. Very common alternatives:

• resolver la duda (resolve the doubt)
• quitarme la duda (take the doubt away from me / put my mind at ease)
• aclarar una duda (clear up a doubt, more general)

Why does it say la duda (the doubt) instead of una duda (a doubt)?

La duda usually refers to a specific doubt already known in the conversation (the particular issue they were talking about).
Una duda sounds more general/new information: a doubt (one of many).
Both can be correct depending on context, but la duda fits when there’s a specific question/uncertainty being addressed.

Is duda the same as pregunta? Which one should I use?

They overlap but aren’t the same:

• pregunta = an actual question you ask
• duda = doubt/uncertainty (the thing you’re unsure about)
  You might say Tengo una pregunta when you want to ask something, and Tengo una duda when you’re expressing uncertainty and want clarification. In many contexts, tengo una duda is the more natural Spanish way to introduce a “question” you have.