Breakdown of El público aplaudió la tradición; sin embargo, no comprendió el baile.
no
no, not
comprender
to understand
sin embargo
however
el público
the audience / public (setting)
aplaudir
to applaud
la tradición
the tradition
el baile
the dance
Questions & Answers about El público aplaudió la tradición; sin embargo, no comprendió el baile.
Why do both verbs, aplaudió and comprendió, end in -ió?
The translation says "they did not understand", but isn't comprendió singular?
Yes, comprendió is singular! In Spanish, el público (the audience) is a singular noun, even though it refers to a group of people. Therefore, both verbs matching it (aplaudió and comprendió) must be in the singular form. English often uses "they" for collective groups, but Spanish strictly follows the singular grammar of the noun.
Why is there an accent mark on the final "o" of aplaudió and comprendió?
The accent mark shows that the spoken stress falls on the final syllable. This is standard for regular -er and -ir preterite verbs in the él/ella/usted form. Without the written accent, the rules of Spanish pronunciation would make the stress fall on the second-to-last syllable, which would sound incorrect.
How does sin embargo translate to "however"?
Sin embargo is a fixed phrase that means "however" or "nevertheless." While sin means "without" and embargo can mean "seizure" or "embargo," you shouldn't try to translate this phrase word-for-word. Just learn it as a single, very common chunk of vocabulary used to introduce a contrasting idea.
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