Log inSign up

Es un hecho: el equipo ganó.

Es un hecho: el equipo ganó.
It is a fact: the team won.
From Lesson 197:Clarification connectors (es decir, o sea)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Es un hecho: el equipo ganó.

The current lesson is about clarification connectors like o sea. How could I use one in this sentence?
You could replace the colon and say Es un hecho, o sea, el equipo ganó (It is a fact, in other words, the team won) or Es un hecho, es decir, el equipo ganó. These connectors do exactly what the colon is doing here: they introduce a clarification of what the fact actually is.
Why do we use es instead of está for "it is a fact"?
We use ser (here conjugated as es) because a fact is considered a defining truth of a situation, not a temporary state or condition. The phrase es un hecho is a very common fixed expression to memorize.
Since a team has many people on it, why is the verb ganó singular?
In Spanish, just like in American English, collective nouns like el equipo (the team), la familia (the family), or la gente (the people) are treated as singular entities. Because it is a single unit, it takes the third-person singular verb ganó instead of the plural ganaron.
Why is ganó in the preterite tense here instead of the imperfect?
The preterite tense is used for actions that are viewed as entirely completed in the past. The team winning the game is a single, finished event, so we use ganó (won) rather than the imperfect ganaba (was winning).

Learn Es un hecho: el equipo ganó 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
Start learning Spanish →