Questions & Answers about ¿Él emigró a Argentina hace cinco siglos?
How exactly does hace mean "ago" in hace cinco siglos?
Hace comes from the verb hacer (to make/do), but in time expressions, it is used to measure time backward from the present. So, hace cinco siglos translates literally to "it makes five centuries," which is the standard way Spanish expresses "five centuries ago."
Could I put the time expression at the beginning, like ¿Hace cinco siglos él emigró a Argentina?
Yes, you can! In Spanish, you can place the hace + [amount of time] expression either at the beginning or the end of the sentence. Both word orders are completely natural and mean the exact same thing.
Why do we use a before Argentina instead of en?
Why does emigró have an accent mark on the final 'o'?
The accent mark shows that the spoken stress is on the last syllable, which tells us it is the past tense (preterite) form meaning "he emigrated." Without the accent, emigro would be the present tense form meaning "I emigrate."