Vecinos, ya hemos limpiado la calle, ahora reciclen el plástico.

Questions & Answers about Vecinos, ya hemos limpiado la calle, ahora reciclen el plástico.

Why is the verb spelled reciclen and not reciclan?
Reciclen is a command telling a group of people to do something. For ustedes (you all) commands, regular verbs swap their usual vowels. Because reciclar is an -ar verb, it takes an -en ending. If it were an -er or -ir verb, it would take an -an ending.
How do we know to use the ustedes command form here?
The speaker is talking directly to their vecinos (neighbors). In Latin America, whenever you give an instruction to a group of people, you always use the ustedes command form.
What grammar structure is hemos limpiado?
This is the present perfect tense, which you use to talk about things that have just happened or are relevant right now. It is formed by combining the helper verb haber (here as hemos, meaning 'we have') with the past participle of the main verb (limpiado, meaning 'cleaned').
Could I put ya at the end of the phrase instead?
Yes, you could say hemos limpiado la calle ya. However, placing ya (already) right before the conjugated verb is the most common and natural way in Spanish to emphasize that an action is completely finished.

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