El globo explotó.

Because Spanish often uses the definite article more than English does.

El globo means the balloon. In a simple statement like this, Spanish normally includes the article when talking about a specific noun.

• El globo explotó. = The balloon burst/exploded.
• Globo explotó would sound incomplete or unnatural in normal Spanish.

Also, globo is a masculine noun, so it takes el, not la.

Usually, yes, but it can refer to different kinds of balloons depending on context:

• globo = a balloon in general
• globo aerostático = hot-air balloon

In everyday use, if someone says el globo, people will normally understand a balloon of the party/toy kind unless the context suggests otherwise.

Because the Spanish verb is explotar, not explodir.

So the forms are:

• infinitive: explotar
• 3rd person singular preterite: explotó

This is one of those cases where English and Spanish look similar but do not match exactly in verb formation.

Examples:

• La bomba explotó. = The bomb exploded.
• El globo explotó. = The balloon burst/exploded.

It is the preterite tense: third person singular of explotar.

The preterite is used for a completed action in the past. Here, the balloon bursting is seen as a single finished event.

So explotó means:

• it exploded
• it burst

depending on context.

The accent mark shows that the stress falls on the last syllable:

• ex-plo-TÓ

It also helps distinguish this form from other verb forms:

• exploto = I exploit / I explode would not normally be used this way, but grammatically it is the yo present form of explotar
• explotó = he/she/it exploded or you exploded in the preterite

So the accent mark is important both for pronunciation and for grammar.

A simple pronunciation guide for an English speaker is:

el GLO-bo eks-plo-TO

More accurately:

• el = like el
• globo = GLO-bo
• explotó = eks-plo-TO

Key points:

• globo is stressed on the first syllable: GLO
• explotó is stressed on the last syllable: TÓ
• the x in explotó is normally pronounced like ks

In this sentence, it often translates more naturally as burst.

A balloon in English usually bursts, even though in Spanish explotar is very common for balloons too.

So:

• El globo explotó. = The balloon burst.

But a more literal translation, The balloon exploded, is still understandable.

Yes. Reventar is also very common for something like a balloon, tyre, or bubble bursting.

• El globo explotó.
• El globo reventó.

Both are possible. In many everyday contexts, reventó may sound especially natural for a balloon bursting.

Very roughly:

• explotó can sound a bit more like exploded
• reventó can sound a bit more like burst

But in real usage there is a lot of overlap.

Because Spanish often omits subject pronouns when they are not needed.

The subject here is already clear from the noun phrase el globo, so there is no need to add a pronoun.

In fact, Él el globo explotó would be wrong.

Spanish normally says:

• El globo explotó.

If the subject were not stated, Spanish could still say:

• Explotó. = It exploded / It burst.

The context would tell you what it refers to.

Yes. Explotó el globo is grammatically possible.

Both mean the same basic thing:

• El globo explotó.
• Explotó el globo.

The difference is mainly one of focus or style.

• El globo explotó is the more straightforward, neutral order.
• Explotó el globo can sound more narrative or more focused on the event itself: The balloon burst.

Because grammatical gender in Spanish is a property of the noun itself. Globo is simply a masculine noun.

That is why it uses:

• el globo
• un globo

A useful pattern is that many nouns ending in -o are masculine, though not all nouns follow that pattern.

The infinitive is explotar.

This is a regular -ar verb in the preterite. For the él/ella/usted form, regular -ar verbs take -ó:

• hablar → habló
• mirar → miró
• explotar → explotó

So explotó is built exactly the way you would expect for a regular -ar verb.

Not usually in this simple sentence if you mean one single completed event.

• explotó = burst/exploded as a finished event
• explotaba = was exploding / used to explode, depending on context

For a balloon, explotó is the natural choice if you are saying that it burst at a particular moment.

Explotaba would need a special context, for example in a description:

• El globo explotaba justo cuando llegamos.
  This is unusual, but it would suggest an action in progress or be part of a more complex narrative.

For normal everyday use: El globo explotó.

No. It can also be used in other ways.

Literal:

• La bomba explotó. = The bomb exploded.
• El globo explotó. = The balloon burst.

Figurative:

• Explotó de rabia. = He/She exploded with rage.

There is also another meaning of explotar: to exploit, especially in social or economic contexts:

• Explotan a los trabajadores. = They exploit the workers.

So context matters a lot. In El globo explotó, the meaning is clearly the literal one.