Breakdown of ¿Por qué acaban de anunciar esa noticia terrible?
esa
that (feminine)
por qué
why
la noticia
the news
terrible
terrible / awful
acabar de
to have just
anunciar
to announce
Questions & Answers about ¿Por qué acaban de anunciar esa noticia terrible?
Why does the translation say "have they just announced" when there are no Spanish words for "have" or "just" in this sentence?
In Spanish, the phrase acabar de followed by an infinitive verb (like anunciar) is a special formula used to say that something just happened. Even though acabar normally means "to finish", the complete phrase acaban de anunciar translates directly to "they have just announced".
Could I leave out the de and just say acaban anunciar?
No, the de is strictly required. The grammar pattern for the recent past is always acabar + de + infinitive. Without the de, the sentence would sound broken to a Spanish speaker.
Why is it esa noticia (singular) when the English word "news" ends in an 's'?
Why does terrible come after noticia?
In Spanish, descriptive adjectives like terrible usually go after the noun they describe. So, instead of saying "terrible news" like we do in English, you say "news terrible" (noticia terrible).
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