Learn Spanish (Latin America): Ella cantó en el coro ayer.

Ella cantó en el coro ayer.

She sang in the choir yesterday.

Breakdown of Ella cantó en el coro ayer.

Questions & Answers about Ella cantó en el coro ayer.

Why is the accent mark on cantó so important?

The accent mark changes both the pronunciation and the meaning! cantó (with the stress on the last syllable) means she sang in the past tense. If you remove the accent, canto (with the stress on the first syllable) means I sing in the present tense.

How do we know to use this specific past tense for this sentence?

The word ayer (yesterday) is a great clue. The preterite tense is used for actions that were completely finished in the past. Since the singing happened yesterday and is now a completed event, we use the preterite form cantó.

Could I drop the word ella and just say Cantó en el coro ayer?

Yes! In Spanish, you can often drop the subject pronoun. However, since the verb form cantó is shared by él (he), ella (she), and usted (you formal), keeping ella in the sentence avoids any confusion about who did the singing.

Is the r in coro rolled like a double rr?

No, because it is a single r in the middle of a word, it is a short tapped sound. This sounds very similar to the quick d or t sound in the middle of the English word butter. You do not want to roll it, because corro with a rolled rr means I run!