Learn Spanish (Latin America): Puedes imaginar por qué tendrán tanta prisa. - You can imagine why they might be in such a hurry.

Puedes imaginar por qué tendrán tanta prisa.

You can imagine why they might be in such a hurry.

Breakdown of Puedes imaginar por qué tendrán tanta prisa.

as much / as many / so much

imaginar

to imagine

Questions & Answers about Puedes imaginar por qué tendrán tanta prisa.

Why does the sentence use the future tense tendrán when the English translation says "might be" in the present?

In Spanish, the future tense is often used to express a guess, probability, or wonder about the present. While tendrán normally means "they will have", in this context it means "they probably have" or "they might have".

Why is the verb tener used here instead of a form of estar for "to be" in a hurry?

In Spanish, you "have" a hurry. The standard phrase is tener prisa rather than being "in" a hurry. So literally, this part of the sentence translates to "they might have so much hurry".

Why do we use tanta instead of tan before prisa?

Prisa is a feminine noun, so it requires the adjective tanta (meaning "so much" or "such a"). You only use tan (meaning "so") before adjectives and adverbs, like in tan rápido (so fast).

Why does por qué have an accent mark here if the sentence is not a direct question?

Question words like qué, quién, and dónde keep their written accent marks even in indirect questions. Since the sentence involves wondering about a reason, por qué still acts as a question word here.