Breakdown of ¿Qué acaba de ocurrir? La prensa no sabe nada.
no
no, not
qué
what
saber
to know (facts) / to hear from (someone)
nada
nothing
acabar de
to have just
ocurrir
to happen
la prensa
the press
Questions & Answers about ¿Qué acaba de ocurrir? La prensa no sabe nada.
How does acaba de ocurrir mean 'has just happened' if acaba is in the present tense?
The phrase acabar de followed by an infinitive verb like ocurrir is a special formula used to say that something 'has just' happened. In Spanish, we use the present tense of acabar for this structure, even though it translates to the recent past in English.
Could I say ¿Qué acaba de pasar? instead?
Why is the verb singular (sabe) if the press refers to many people?
In Spanish, collective nouns like la prensa (the press), la gente (the people), or la familia (the family) are grammatically singular. Because it is one single group, it takes the 'he/she/it' form of the verb: la prensa no sabe.
Why are there two negative words (no and nada) in the second sentence?
Spanish requires a double negative when the negative word comes after the verb. Because nada (nothing/anything) comes after sabe, you must put no before the verb. While it translates literally as 'doesn't know nothing,' it is perfectly correct Spanish for 'doesn't know anything.'
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