Breakdown of La policía acaba de rescatar a la familia.
la familia
the family
a
to
la policía
police
acabar de
to have just
rescatar
to rescue
Questions & Answers about La policía acaba de rescatar a la familia.
Why is acaba in the present tense if the English translation uses the past tense "have just rescued"?
The phrase acabar de followed by an infinitive like rescatar is a special formula used to say that someone has just done something. Even though the action happened in the recent past, Spanish uses the present tense of acabar to express this idea.
Why does the sentence use the singular verb acaba when the English translation says "The police have" (plural)?
Why is there an a right before la familia?
This is called the personal a. In Spanish, when the direct object of a verb is a specific person, pet, or group of people like la familia, you must put the word a right before it. Since the family is the specific group of people receiving the action of being rescued, the a is required.
Does acabar always mean "to have just done something"?
Not always! On its own, the verb acabar means to finish or to end. It only means to have just done something when it is used in the specific structure acabar de plus an infinitive verb.
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