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El público aplaudió mucho el espectáculo.

El público aplaudió mucho el espectáculo.
The audience applauded the show a lot.
From Lesson 100:The preterite of regular -er and -ir verbs·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El público aplaudió mucho el espectáculo.

Why does aplaudió end in -ió?
Aplaudió is the past tense (preterite) form of the regular verb aplaudir (to applaud). For regular -ir and -er verbs in this past tense, the "he/she/it" ending is always -ió. Since el público (the audience) acts as an "it", we use aplaudió.
"The audience" is a group of people. Why is the verb aplaudió singular instead of plural?
In Spanish, collective nouns like el público (the audience), la gente (the people), or la familia (the family) are grammatically singular because they represent one single unit. Therefore, they take the singular "he/she/it" verb form (aplaudió) rather than the plural "they" form (aplaudieron).
Can I use la audiencia to mean "the audience" here?
Usually, no. While la audiencia exists, it is mostly used for TV or radio audiences, or a formal hearing with a judge. For a live crowd at a theater, concert, or sports event, el público is the standard word to use.
Why is mucho placed right after the verb?
In this sentence, mucho means "a lot" and acts as an adverb describing the verb aplaudió (how much they applauded). In Spanish, adverbs naturally sit right after the verb they modify, which is why we say aplaudió mucho instead of putting it at the end of the sentence like in English.

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