Breakdown of Él rompe el reloj y tú lo arreglas.
tú
you (informal singular)
él
he
y
and
el reloj
the clock
lo
it / him (direct object)
romper
to break
arreglar
to fix
Questions & Answers about Él rompe el reloj y tú lo arreglas.
Why do we use lo to mean "it" here?
In Spanish, the word for "it" changes depending on the gender of the noun it replaces. Because it replaces el reloj, which is a masculine noun, we use the masculine pronoun lo.
Why is lo placed before the verb arreglas?
In English, we say "you fix it," putting the object after the verb. In Spanish, direct object pronouns like lo usually have to go right before the conjugated verb. So, it becomes lo arreglas (literally "it you fix").
Why do Él and tú have accent marks?
These accent marks show the difference between words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. Él with an accent means "he," while el without an accent means "the" (as in el reloj). Likewise, tú means "you," but tu without an accent means "your."
Do we have to include the words Él and tú?
No, you could just say Rompe el reloj y lo arreglas. The verb endings already tell us who is doing the action. Including the subject pronouns here adds contrast, emphasizing that he breaks it, but you fix it.
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