Oímos el disparo en la película.

We heard the gunshot in the film.

Breakdown of Oímos el disparo en la película.

• en: in
• la película: the movie
• oír: to hear
• el disparo: the gunshot

Questions & Answers about Oímos el disparo en la película.

Why is it oímos and not escuchamos?

Because oír and escuchar are close in meaning, but they are not used in exactly the same way.

• oír = to hear: to perceive a sound
• escuchar = to listen (to): to pay attention to a sound

So Oímos el disparo means We heard the gunshot, which fits a sound that reached our ears.

If you said Escuchamos el disparo, it would sound more like We listened to / heard the gunshot intentionally, which is less neutral.

Is oímos present tense or past tense here?

It can actually be either:

• present: we hear
• preterite: we heard

This is one of those Spanish forms that are spelled the same in both tenses.

So oímos can mean:

• we hear
• we heard

You know which one it is from the context. If the meaning shown to the learner is past, then here it is the preterite: we heard.

Why does oímos have an accent mark?

The accent mark shows that the i is pronounced separately from the o, not blended into one syllable.

So oímos is pronounced roughly:

• o-EE-mos

It has three syllables:

• o-í-mos

Without the accent, Spanish pronunciation rules would suggest a different syllable pattern.