Breakdown of ¿Suelen los peatones respetar el semáforo?
los
the (masculine plural)
el semáforo
the traffic light
respetar
to respect
soler
to usually do / to tend to
Questions & Answers about ¿Suelen los peatones respetar el semáforo?
The lesson is about the imperfect of soler, but this sentence uses suelen. Why?
Suelen is the present tense of soler. While the lesson focuses on the imperfect form (solían - they used to), it is also very common in the present tense to ask about current habits. Here, it translates to "Do they usually...?" and works exactly the same way: conjugated soler + infinitive.
Why is the subject los peatones placed between suelen and respetar?
How does the verb soler work with respetar here?
The verb soler means "to be in the habit of" or "to tend to." It acts as a helper verb and is always followed by an infinitive (unconjugated) verb. Here, suelen respetar literally means "they are in the habit of respecting," which we naturally translate as "they usually respect."
Why use respetar for a traffic light instead of a word like "obey"?