La abogada preparó el juicio.

Because abogada is the feminine form of abogado.

• abogado = a male lawyer
• abogada = a female lawyer

In this sentence, the noun refers to a woman, so Spanish uses the feminine article la and the feminine noun form abogada.

La is the feminine singular definite article, meaning the.

Spanish uses definite articles more often than English does. So where English might sometimes say the lawyer or just lawyer depending on context, Spanish commonly uses la abogada.

Here it simply identifies a specific female lawyer.

Because juicio is a masculine noun, so it takes the masculine singular article el.

In Spanish, every noun has grammatical gender:

• el juicio = masculine
• la abogada = feminine

The gender of a noun does not always have anything to do with biological sex. For objects or abstract ideas, it is just a grammatical category you need to learn with the noun.

Preparó is the preterite tense, third person singular, from the verb preparar.

That means it corresponds to:

• he/she prepared
• you prepared (formal singular, usted)

So the verb form tells you the action was completed in the past.

The accent mark shows the stress falls on the final syllable: pre-pa-RÓ.

It also helps distinguish this form from preparo:

• preparo = I prepare / I am preparing
• preparó = he/she prepared

So the accent is important both for pronunciation and meaning.

In this sentence, the subject is stated explicitly: La abogada.

So even though preparó by itself could mean:

• he prepared
• she prepared
• you prepared (formal)

the noun phrase la abogada tells you clearly that the female lawyer did the action.

Spanish often does not need subject pronouns because the verb ending already gives grammatical information.

In this sentence, the subject is not a pronoun anyway; it is the full noun phrase la abogada.

Spanish could also say simply Preparó el juicio if the subject were already clear from context, but then it would mean something like She prepared the trial or He prepared the trial, depending on context.

Because el juicio is a direct object referring to a thing, not a person.

Spanish uses the personal a before specific human direct objects, for example:

• Veo a la abogada. = I see the lawyer.

But with things, you normally do not use a:

• Preparó el juicio. = She prepared the trial.

So el juicio is simply the direct object of preparó.

Yes, Spanish word order is more flexible than English word order.

The most neutral order here is:

• La abogada preparó el juicio.

But other orders are possible in the right context, for example for emphasis or style:

• Preparó el juicio la abogada.
• El juicio lo preparó la abogada.

That said, for learners, the standard subject + verb + object order is the safest choice.

El juicio is the direct object. It is the thing being prepared.

So the structure is:

• La abogada = subject
• preparó = verb
• el juicio = direct object

A good way to test this is to ask What did the lawyer prepare?
Answer: the trial / el juicio.

Yes, but the meaning and time feel can be slightly different.

• La abogada preparó el juicio = simple completed past
• La abogada ha preparado el juicio = present perfect, often connected more closely to the present

In Spain, the present perfect (ha preparado) is often used for recent past actions or actions within a time period still connected to the present, though the exact usage can vary by region and context.

So both are possible, but they are not always interchangeable.

They are different past tenses.

• preparó = preterite; completed action
• preparaba = imperfect; ongoing, habitual, or background action in the past

So:

• La abogada preparó el juicio suggests a completed action.
• La abogada preparaba el juicio suggests something like was preparing the trial or used to prepare the trial, depending on context.

Not always. Juicio can have several related meanings depending on context, such as:

• trial in a legal sense
• judgment
• sense or good judgment in some expressions

But in this sentence, because of the context and the verb preparó, it is understood in the legal sense.

A simple approximation is:

la a-bo-GA-da pre-pa-RÓ el HWEE-thyo

Notes for Spain Spanish:

• abogada stresses ga
• preparó stresses the last syllable
• juicio is usually two syllables: jui-cio
• In much of Spain, the c before i is pronounced like th in thin, so juicio sounds like HWEE-thyo
• The j in juicio is a strong throaty sound, not like English j

If you are aiming for Spain pronunciation, that th sound in cio is one of the key features.