Breakdown of Él está feliz porque acaban de rescatar a los gatos del incendio.
él
he
el gato
the cat
los
the (masculine plural)
feliz
happy
estar
to be (location/state)
a
to
porque
because
del
from the / of the
acabar de
to have just
el incendio
the fire
rescatar
to rescue
Questions & Answers about Él está feliz porque acaban de rescatar a los gatos del incendio.
How does "acaban de rescatar" translate to "they have just rescued"?
The phrase acabar de followed by an infinitive verb (the unchanged dictionary form, like rescatar) is used to say that an action just happened. Since acabar is conjugated as acaban (they), acaban de rescatar means "they have just rescued".
Who is the "they" in "acaban de rescatar" since there is no "ellos" in the sentence?
In Spanish, you can leave out pronouns like ellos (they) when the verb ending makes it clear. Here, the "they" refers to the unspecified rescuers (like the firefighters). This is very similar to English when we say "they fixed the road" without saying exactly who did it.
Why is there an "a" before "los gatos"? I thought the personal "a" was only for people.
You are right that the "personal a" is required when an action happens directly to a person, but it is also used for specific, familiar animals. Because these are specific cats (most likely pets) being rescued, Spanish treats them with the "personal a".
Why does the sentence use "está feliz" instead of "es feliz"?
Why is it "del incendio" instead of "de el incendio"?
Whenever the word de (from) is directly followed by the masculine word for "the" (el), they must always combine into the contraction del. So, de el incendio becomes del incendio.
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