Breakdown of La prensa informa que el sospechoso acaba de escapar.
que
that / than
el sospechoso
suspect
escapar
to escape
acabar de
to have just
Questions & Answers about La prensa informa que el sospechoso acaba de escapar.
Why is acaba in the present tense if the translation says the suspect 'has just escaped'?
The phrase acabar de followed by an infinitive (like escapar) is a special formula used to say that something has just happened. Even though it refers to a recently completed action, acabar is conjugated in the present tense to show that the completion is happening right at this very moment.
Does acaba de always need to be followed by an infinitive?
Yes! To express that someone has just done something, you always use the conjugated form of acabar, plus the preposition de, plus the unconjugated infinitive form of the action verb. Here, that action verb is escapar.
Could I leave out the word que and just say La prensa informa el sospechoso... like in English?
No, in Spanish you cannot drop the word que when it means 'that' connecting two parts of a sentence. While in English we often say 'The press reports the suspect escaped,' Spanish strictly requires que to link the two ideas.
Is sospechoso a noun or an adjective here?
It functions as a noun here, meaning 'the suspect.' In Spanish, it is very common to turn an adjective (like sospechoso, which means 'suspicious') into a noun simply by putting an article like el or la in front of it.