Breakdown of Me importa que ellos hayan encontrado la combinación.
ellos
they
encontrar
to find
que
that / than
me
to me / me (direct object)
importar
to matter / to care
haber
(auxiliary) have
la combinación
the combination
Questions & Answers about Me importa que ellos hayan encontrado la combinación.
Why do we use hayan encontrado instead of the normal past tense encontraron?
The phrase me importa que (it matters to me that) expresses an emotion or a personal evaluation, which triggers the subjunctive mood. Since the action of finding the combination already happened, we need the present perfect subjunctive, which is formed by combining the subjunctive form of the helper verb haber (hayan) with the past participle encontrado.
Why is importa in the singular "it" form if the sentence mentions "they" (ellos)?
Could I change the word order and say hayan ellos encontrado?
No, in Spanish you can never separate the helper verb (hayan) and the past participle (encontrado). They are two halves of the same verb tense and must stay glued together. Any subject pronouns like ellos must go before or after the entire two-word verb phrase.
What kind of combination does la combinación refer to in Spanish?
Just like in English, la combinación is exactly the word you would use for a sequence of numbers needed to unlock a safe, a padlock, or a briefcase. It is also used more broadly for a mixture of different things, like a combination of flavors.
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