Breakdown of El guardia informa que acaba de ocurrir un accidente en el banco.
un
a, an (masculine)
en
in / on / at
el banco
the bank
que
that / than
Questions & Answers about El guardia informa que acaba de ocurrir un accidente en el banco.
Why does acaba de ocurrir mean 'has just happened'? Doesn't acabar mean 'to finish'?
You are right that acabar usually means 'to finish.' However, when you use the formula acabar de + an infinitive verb (like ocurrir), it creates a special phrase for the recent past, meaning that something just happened. So, acaba de ocurrir translates perfectly to 'has just happened.'
Why is it el guardia (masculine) when the word ends in -a?
In English we could just say 'The guard reports an accident has just happened.' Can I drop the que in Spanish?
No, you cannot. In English, the connecting word 'that' is often optional, but in Spanish, you must always include que to connect these kinds of phrases. It cannot be skipped!
Could I change the word order and say un accidente acaba de ocurrir instead?
Yes, you could, and it would be perfectly correct! Spanish is much more flexible with word order than English. With verbs about things happening, appearing, or arriving, it is very common and sounds quite natural to put the action before the subject, just like in this sentence.