Breakdown of ¡Qué bonito! Mi hermana se ha casado hoy.
la hermana
the sister
bonito
pretty / nice
mi
my
qué
what
Questions & Answers about ¡Qué bonito! Mi hermana se ha casado hoy.
Why do we use "ha casado" instead of the regular past tense "casó"?
Ha casado is the present perfect tense. It is built using the helping verb haber (here, ha) and a past participle (casado). It is used here because of the word hoy (today). Since "today" is a time period that isn't over yet, the action feels very connected to the present moment.
Why does "se" come before "ha casado"? Can I separate the two parts of the verb?
Object pronouns and reflexive pronouns like se must always go before the conjugated helping verb (haber). You can never separate haber and the past participle. Therefore, it must be se ha casado. You cannot say ha se casado.
Why is there a "se" at all? Is getting married reflexive in Spanish?
Why does "¡Qué bonito!" mean "How beautiful"? Doesn't "qué" usually mean "what"?