Breakdown of Tal vez la multitud se burla del comediante.
tal vez
perhaps / maybe
la multitud
the crowd
el comediante
the comedian
burlarse de
to make fun of
Questions & Answers about Tal vez la multitud se burla del comediante.
Why does the sentence use "se burla del" instead of just "burla el"?
The verb for "to make fun of" or "to mock" is burlarse. Because it's a pronominal verb, it needs the pronoun se. Additionally, burlarse always requires the preposition de to introduce the target of the mockery. When de combines with the masculine article el (from el comediante), it forms the mandatory contraction del.
Doesn't "tal vez" require the subjunctive mood? Why is "se burla" in the present indicative?
Tal vez (perhaps) can actually trigger either the indicative or the subjunctive mood. You use the indicative (like se burla) when you feel the statement is highly likely to be true, or when you are observing a factual situation. If you wanted to express more doubt or uncertainty, you would use the subjunctive (se burle).
"La multitud" (the crowd) is made up of many people. Why is the verb singular?
How would I change this sentence to say "the crowd started to make fun of the comedian" using this lesson's grammar?
To express the sudden start of an action in the past, you use the preterite of ponerse + a + infinitive. For this sentence, it would be: La multitud se puso a burlarse del comediante. Notice that because both verbs are pronominal, we need se twice: once for ponerse (se puso) and once attached to the infinitive for burlarse.
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