Breakdown of El ladrón confesó que su cómplice había planeado el robo.
su
his/her/its/their/your (formal)
que
that / than
el ladrón
thief
haber
(auxiliary) have
planear
to plan (make plans)
confesar
to confess
el cómplice
the accomplice
el robo
the robbery
Questions & Answers about El ladrón confesó que su cómplice había planeado el robo.
Why do we use había planeado (had planned) instead of just the simple past here?
This is reported speech! The thief's original words were likely in the simple past: 'My accomplice planned (planeó) the robbery.' Because the reporting verb is in the past (confesó), the reported action gets pushed one step further back into the past. We use the past perfect (había planeado) to show that the planning happened before the confession.
What is the infinitive of confesó and does it have a stem change?
The infinitive is confesar (to confess). In the present tense, it has an e-to-ie stem change (for example, yo confieso). However, in the preterite tense, regular -ar verbs do not have stem changes, which is why it is simply confesó for the 'he/she/it' form.
Why isn't there a subjunctive verb after que in this sentence?
We use the indicative mood (había planeado) because the verb confesar is used here to report a fact or declare information. We usually only trigger the subjunctive when the first verb expresses doubt, emotion, or a command.
Does cómplice change depending on whether the accomplice is male or female?
Learn El ladrón confesó que su cómplice había planeado el robo and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free