Mi sobrino y mi sobrina han jugado todo el día, pero ahora deben acabar sus deberes.

My nephew and my niece have played all day, but now they must finish their homework.

Breakdown of Mi sobrino y mi sobrina han jugado todo el día, pero ahora deben acabar sus deberes.

• el día: the day
• mi: my
• pero: but
• y: and
• ahora: now
• el sobrino: the nephew
• la sobrina: the niece
• acabar: to finish
• haber jugado: to have played
• todo: all
• ellos: they
• sus: their
• los deberes: the homework

Questions & Answers about Mi sobrino y mi sobrina han jugado todo el día, pero ahora deben acabar sus deberes.

Why do we say “han jugado” instead of “jugaron”?

Han jugado is the present perfect tense in Spanish, which often emphasizes that the action (playing) happened during a period of time that continues up to the present. If you used jugaron (the simple past), it would imply the action is completely in the past. In everyday Spanish from Spain, han jugado is frequently used to talk about activities that took place earlier the same day.

What does “deben acabar sus deberes” mean, and why is “deber” used here?

Deben acabar sus deberes means “they must finish their homework.” The verb deber indicates obligation or necessity in a slightly more formal way than tener que, which is another common way to say “have to.” Both are correct, but deber emphasizes the sense of duty more strongly.

Does “sus” in “sus deberes” refer to both the nephew and the niece?

Yes. The word sus is a third-person plural possessive adjective here. Since mi sobrino y mi sobrina (my nephew and my niece) form a plural subject, sus refers to their homework.

Why is it “todo el día” instead of “todo la día”?

The word día in Spanish is masculine even though it ends with an -a, so it takes the masculine article el. That’s why it’s todo el día (“all day long”).

Would it change the meaning if I wrote “han estado jugando” instead of “han jugado”?

Using han estado jugando (the perfect continuous) would emphasize the ongoing nature of the activity, suggesting they were in the process of playing for a duration. Han jugado (the perfect simple) doesn’t focus on the continuous aspect, just that they have done the action repeatedly or throughout the day. Both forms are understandable.