Mi padre condujo quinientos kilómetros el sábado y acabó agotado.

Because conducir is irregular in the preterite.

Its preterite stem changes from conduc- to conduj-, so the forms are:

• yo conduje
• tú condujiste
• él/ella condujo
• nosotros condujimos
• vosotros condujisteis
• ellos condujeron

So Mi padre condujo means My father drove.

A lot of verbs ending in -ducir follow this pattern, for example:

• traducir → tradujo
• producir → produjo

Acabó agotado means he ended up exhausted or he finished up exhausted. It shows the result of the driving.

By contrast:

• estaba agotado = he was exhausted
• acabó agotado = he became / ended up exhausted

So this sentence is not just describing his state; it is showing what happened after driving 500 kilometres.

Because agotado agrees with mi padre, which is masculine singular.

In Spanish, adjectives usually agree in gender and number with the noun they describe:

• mi padre... agotado = masculine singular
• mi madre... agotada = feminine singular
• mis padres... agotados = masculine/mixed plural
• mis madres... agotadas = feminine plural

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb form already tells you who the subject is.

Here, condujo and acabó are both third person singular, and the subject mi padre is already stated, so there is no need to add él.

Compare:

• Mi padre condujo... = My father drove...
• Él condujo... = He drove...

Using él here would usually only be for emphasis or contrast.

Because in Spanish, with verbs like conducir, caminar, correr, or nadar, a distance can be used directly as the object or complement of the verb.

So:

• condujo quinientos kilómetros = he drove 500 kilometres
• caminó diez kilómetros = he walked 10 kilometres

English does something similar: drive 500 kilometres.

You do not need por here.

In Spanish, days of the week often use the definite article el where English uses on.

So:

• el sábado = on Saturday
• el lunes = on Monday

This is very normal Spanish structure.

A useful contrast:

• Trabajo el lunes. = I work on Monday.
• Trabajo los lunes. = I work on Mondays.

Because the sentence describes completed actions in the past.

The preterite is used for:

• a finished event: condujo quinientos kilómetros
• the resulting change/state reached: acabó agotado

This fits because the sentence talks about a specific completed occasion: el sábado.

If you used the imperfect, the meaning would change and sound more descriptive or ongoing rather than completed.

Yes. In Spain, conducir is the standard verb for to drive a vehicle.

You may also hear manejar in many Latin American countries, but in Spain conducir is much more natural in this context.

So for Spain Spanish:

• Mi padre condujo quinientos kilómetros sounds very natural.

Yes, y means and.

Here it links two past events involving the same subject:

• Mi padre condujo quinientos kilómetros
• acabó agotado

So the structure is basically:

• My father drove 500 kilometres and ended up exhausted.

Notice that Spanish does not need to repeat mi padre in the second part.

The accent marks show stress.

• sábado is stressed on the first syllable: SÁ-ba-do
• acabó is stressed on the last syllable: a-ca-BÓ

In acabó, the accent mark also helps distinguish it from acabo:

• acabo = I finish / I am finishing
• acabó = he/she finished

So the accent is important both for pronunciation and meaning.

Not naturally in this context.

If you want to express the total distance travelled, the normal form is:

• condujo quinientos kilómetros

Using durante would not be the usual way to talk about distance. Durante is mainly for time:

• condujo durante cinco horas = he drove for five hours

So:

• distance → quinientos kilómetros
• duration → durante cinco horas

Literally, yes, but in natural English you would usually say:

• ended up exhausted
• finished exhausted
• was exhausted by the end

In Spanish, acabar + adjective often means that someone or something ends up in that state.

Examples:

• Acabó cansado. = He ended up tired.
• Acabaron contentos. = They ended up happy.

So the idea is the final condition after the action.

Yes. Spanish usually avoids repeating the subject when it is already clear.

So this is the natural structure:

• Mi padre condujo quinientos kilómetros el sábado y acabó agotado.

Repeating it would sound heavier:

• Mi padre condujo quinientos kilómetros el sábado y mi padre acabó agotado.

That repetition is unnecessary unless you want special emphasis or contrast.