Breakdown of El entrenador nos hizo trotar por la cancha.
hacer
to do / to make
nos
to us
por
for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)
el entrenador
coach
trotar
to jog
la cancha
court
Questions & Answers about El entrenador nos hizo trotar por la cancha.
Why is nos placed before hizo instead of attached to trotar?
In structures where you 'make' or 'let' someone do something (hacer or dejar + infinitive), the object pronoun almost always goes before the conjugated verb. Even though nos refers to the people doing the jogging, Spanish treats it as the object of hizo. Therefore, it is placed before it: nos hizo trotar. You cannot attach it to the infinitive here (hizo trotarnos is incorrect).
Does hacer always mean 'to make' someone do something when followed by an infinitive?
Yes! When hacer is followed by an infinitive (like trotar), it forms a causative construction. This means the subject causes another person to perform the action, translating perfectly to 'made us jog' in English. In this pattern, hacer shifts away from its standard meaning of building or doing a physical object.
Why use por instead of alrededor de for 'around'?
The preposition por is frequently used to indicate movement through, by, or around a general area. Trotar por la cancha implies jogging all over or around the space of the court. If you wanted to specify running laps strictly on the outside perimeter, you could use alrededor de la cancha, but por is the most natural choice for general physical movement within a space.
Can cancha be used for other types of sports fields?
Yes. In Latin America, cancha is a very versatile word. While it translates to 'court' for sports like basketball or tennis, it is also the standard everyday word for a soccer 'field' or 'pitch'.
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