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Ellos investigaron sus raíces hace mucho tiempo.

Ellos investigaron sus raíces hace mucho tiempo.
They investigated their roots a long time ago.
From Lesson 107:Time ago (hace)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Ellos investigaron sus raíces hace mucho tiempo.

Why do we use hace here if it usually means makes or does?
In Spanish, hace followed by an amount of time translates to ago in English. So hace mucho tiempo means a long time ago. This structure is used with the past tense to talk about actions that are completely finished.
Why is investigaron in the preterite tense instead of the imperfect?
The phrase hace mucho tiempo acts as a specific time marker showing that the action is over and done with. When an action is viewed as a completed event in the past, Spanish uses the preterite tense like investigaron rather than the imperfect.
Why does raíces have a c if the singular word is raíz?
In Spanish, nouns that end in -z change the z to a c when they become plural. Since the singular is raíz, the plural becomes raíces. This rule keeps the spelling matching the pronunciation. Notice that it also keeps its accent mark to maintain the stress on the i.
Does sus refer to ellos or raíces?
The word sus means their in this sentence, but it is plural because it must match the noun it describes (raíces), not the people who own it (ellos). If they only investigated one root, it would be su raíz.

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