Breakdown of El ladrón que tiene el dinero escapa ahora.
tener
to have
ahora
now
el dinero
money
que
that / than
el ladrón
thief
escapar
to escape
Questions & Answers about El ladrón que tiene el dinero escapa ahora.
Why do we use que here instead of quién, since we are talking about a person?
In Spanish, que translates to 'who', 'that', or 'which'. It is the most common way to link parts of a sentence. When the linking word comes immediately after the noun it describes (like ladrón), you almost always use que, even for people. Quien is usually saved for when there is a preposition like con (with) or de (of) right before it.
The English translation says 'is escaping'. Why isn't the Spanish está escapando?
The simple present tense in Spanish (escapa) frequently translates to the English 'is doing' form. Because the sentence includes ahora (now), it is already obvious that the action is happening at this exact moment. You could use the present progressive (está escapando), but the simple present is completely natural and very common here.
Can we leave out que in Spanish like we sometimes leave out 'that' or 'who' in English?
Why does ladrón have an accent mark on the 'o'?
Words ending in 'n', 's', or a vowel naturally put the spoken stress on the second-to-last syllable. In ladrón (thief), the emphasis is strongly on the final syllable (la-DRON). The accent mark tells us to break the normal rule. Interestingly, if you make it plural (ladrones), the accent mark disappears because the added syllable makes the stress naturally land on the correct 'o'!
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