El compromiso y el aporte muestran potencial.

Because the subject is actually two nouns joined by y:

• el compromiso
• el aporte

Together, they form a plural subject, so Spanish uses the third-person plural verb:

• muestran = they show

A singular verb like muestra would sound wrong here.

Spanish often uses the definite article with each noun in a pair:

• el compromiso y el aporte

This is very natural and clear. In Spanish, repeating the article is more common than in English.

You may also sometimes see just one article with coordinated nouns, but here using el twice helps treat them as two distinct qualities or factors.

Because potencial is the object, not the subject.

The plural subject is:

• el compromiso y el aporte

That is why the verb is plural:

• muestran

But potencial is a singular noun meaning something like potential in a general or abstract sense, so it stays singular.

In Spanish, abstract nouns often appear without an article when speaking in a general sense.

So:

• muestran potencial = they show potential

This is similar to English, where you also usually say show potential, not show the potential, unless you mean a specific potential already identified.

In this kind of sentence, compromiso usually means:

• commitment
• dedication
• serious involvement

It does not usually mean engagement here, even though that is another possible meaning in other contexts.

So a learner should understand that compromiso is a flexible word whose meaning depends a lot on context.

Yes, aporte is common in Latin America. It usually means:

• contribution
• input
• support
• what someone brings to a project or group

It is often used in professional, academic, social, or organizational contexts.

So in a sentence like this, aporte suggests that someone’s contribution or added value is being recognized.

Yes. Both are possible, but they are slightly different in tone:

• muestran potencial = they show potential
• tienen potencial = they have potential

Muestran potencial suggests that there is visible evidence of potential. Tienen potencial is a bit more direct and neutral.

Both are natural, but muestran potencial can sound a little more evaluative or observational.

The normal and most natural order is:

• El compromiso y el aporte muestran potencial.

Spanish does allow other word orders in some cases, but this version is the clearest and most standard.

For example, moving things around could sound more literary, marked, or less natural in everyday use. For learners, it is best to keep this standard order:

subject + verb + object

Yes, in this case they are both masculine singular nouns:

• el compromiso
• el aporte

The -o ending is a strong clue that a noun is masculine, although there are exceptions in Spanish overall. Here, the article el confirms the gender.

Yes. These nouns are abstract, so they can describe qualities associated with many kinds of subjects, for example:

• a person
• a group
• a candidate
• an organization
• a proposal

That is one reason the sentence sounds somewhat formal or evaluative: it highlights qualities being observed rather than naming a specific actor directly.

Spanish normally uses y for and.

It changes to e only before a word that begins with an i sound, such as:

• padres e hijos

Here, the next word is el, which does not begin with an i sound, so y is correct:

• el compromiso y el aporte

Yes, it sounds somewhat formal or professional.

Words like compromiso, aporte, and potencial are common in:

• performance evaluations
• recommendation letters
• workplace feedback
• academic or institutional writing

In casual everyday conversation, people might choose simpler wording depending on the situation.