Breakdown of Ellos no pueden ir al parque porque tienen que limpiar el piso.
no
no, not
tener
to have
ellos
they
el parque
park
ir
to go
a
to
porque
because
poder
to be able to / can
que
that / than
limpiar
to clean
el piso
the floor
Questions & Answers about Ellos no pueden ir al parque porque tienen que limpiar el piso.
Why do we need the word que after tienen?
To say you "have to" do something, you use the verb tener (to have) followed by que and an infinitive (an unchanged verb like limpiar). Together, tienen que limpiar means "they have to clean." If you leave out que, tener just means possessing or owning something.
Why are the verbs ir and limpiar not conjugated?
When two verbs are paired together to make one idea, only the first verb changes to match the subject. Here, pueden (they can) and tienen (they have) are conjugated for Ellos. The second verbs in each pair stay in their original dictionary form, called the infinitive: ir (to go) and limpiar (to clean).
Why is it al parque instead of a el parque?
I thought piso meant "apartment." Does it mean "floor" here?
Yes, in Latin America, piso is the standard word for the floor you walk on inside a house or building. In Spain, piso is commonly used for "apartment" or "flat," but in Latin American Spanish, they usually say departamento for that.
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