Breakdown of Esa bacteria habría alterado lo que descubrimos ayer.
esa
that (feminine)
que
that / than
ayer
yesterday
descubrir
to discover
haber
(auxiliary) have
lo
the ... thing (neuter article)
alterar
to alter
la bacteria
bacteria
Questions & Answers about Esa bacteria habría alterado lo que descubrimos ayer.
How do we form the "would have altered" part in this sentence?
This sentence uses the conditional perfect to talk about a hypothetical past event. It is formed by conjugating the auxiliary verb haber in the conditional tense (which gives us habría to match the third-person subject esa bacteria) and adding the past participle of the main verb, alterado.
Why does it say esa bacteria in the singular when "bacteria" is usually plural in English?
In Spanish, bacteria is a singular feminine noun, and its plural is bacterias. While English speakers often use "bacteria" as a singular collective noun in everyday speech (even though the true singular is "bacterium"), Spanish is strict about its singular form. That is why it uses the singular feminine demonstrative adjective esa.
Why use lo que instead of just qué to say "what"?
You use lo que when "what" isn't a question, but rather means "that which" or "the thing that". If you used qué, it would incorrectly imply a direct or indirect question. Since this sentence is stating a fact about the thing you discovered, the relative pronoun lo que is required.
How do we know descubrimos is in the past tense and not the present?
Learn Esa bacteria habría alterado lo que descubrimos ayer 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