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Questions & Answers about El cartel prohíbe aparcar.
Why is prohíbe written with an accent mark?
Because the stress falls on the í: pro-hí-be.
In Spanish, when a weak vowel like i or u needs to be pronounced separately from a nearby strong vowel, it often takes an accent mark. In prohíbe, the accent shows that the i is stressed and forms its own syllable.
This verb comes from prohibir. Its present-tense forms are:
Notice that the accent appears in most forms, but not in nosotros.
Why is aparcar in the infinitive?
Because after prohibir, Spanish often uses an infinitive to talk about a forbidden action in general.
So:
- prohibir + infinitive = to forbid doing something
Examples:
- Prohíbe fumar = It forbids smoking
- Prohíbe entrar = It forbids entering
- Prohíbe aparcar = It forbids parking
This is similar to English forbid + -ing or forbid someone to do something, depending on the sentence.
Why isn’t there a word for to before aparcar?