Breakdown of Esperamos que el paciente se duerma antes de la operación.
esperar
to wait / to hope / to expect
que
that / than
antes
before / earlier
el paciente
the patient
dormirse
to fall asleep
la operación
the operation
Questions & Answers about Esperamos que el paciente se duerma antes de la operación.
Why does this sentence use se duerma instead of just duerma?
This is a great example of a verb changing its meaning when used as a pronominal verb. Dormir means to sleep (the ongoing state), but dormirse means to fall asleep (the moment you transition into sleeping). Since we are waiting for the patient to fall asleep, we must use the pronominal form with se.
Why is the verb spelled duerma with an 'a' at the end, rather than duerme?
Where does the 'ue' in duerma come from if the infinitive is dormirse?
Dormir is a stem-changing verb where the o changes to ue. In the present subjunctive, stem-changing verbs keep that vowel change for most forms, including the one for el paciente (the he/she/it form). So the stem becomes duerm- before adding the subjunctive ending -a.
Why do we need the word de in antes de la operación?
When the adverb antes (before) is followed directly by a specific noun, pronoun, or infinitive verb, it requires the preposition de to connect them. You cannot just say antes la operación; it must be antes de la operación.
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