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Él preguntó por qué las mujeres no buscan un esposo romántico y cariñoso.

Él preguntó por qué las mujeres no buscan un esposo romántico y cariñoso.
He asked why women don't look for a romantic and affectionate husband.
From Lesson 192:Reported questions (preguntó si...)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Él preguntó por qué las mujeres no buscan un esposo romántico y cariñoso.

Why is "buscan" in the present tense if he asked ("preguntó") in the past?
In reported speech, if the original question was about a general truth or something that is still happening, you can keep the verb in the present tense. His original question was likely "¿Por qué las mujeres no buscan...?" (Why don't women look for...?). Since this is a broad statement about women in general, buscan can stay in the present. You could also use the imperfect past tense (buscaban) here, which is the standard rule for reporting past questions.
Does "por qué" still need an accent mark even though there are no question marks?
Yes! When you report a question using a question word (like qué, cuándo, dónde, or por qué), it keeps its written accent. This shows that it is an indirect question. Notice it is also written as two separate words (por qué) because it means "why", unlike porque (one word, no accent) which means "because".
Why do we need the article "las" before "mujeres" if the English translation just says "women"?
In Spanish, when you talk about a noun in a general or universal sense—like women as a whole group—you almost always need the definite article (el, la, los, or las). English drops the article for general statements, but Spanish requires it.
How does the word order work when using two adjectives like "romántico y cariñoso"?
Just like with a single adjective, both adjectives normally go after the noun they describe, connected by y (and). So, "a romantic and affectionate husband" becomes un esposo romántico y cariñoso. Notice that both adjectives end in "-o" to agree with the masculine, singular noun esposo.

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