Breakdown of El guardia acababa de oír un disparo.
un
a, an (masculine)
el guardia
guard
acabar de
to have just
oír
to hear
el disparo
the gunshot
Questions & Answers about El guardia acababa de oír un disparo.
Why is acababa in the imperfect tense rather than the preterite (acabó)?
The phrase acabar de followed by an infinitive means to have just done something. When talking about the past, we almost always use the imperfect tense (acababa) to say someone had just done something, because it sets the background scene for whatever happened next. Using the preterite (acabó de oír) would sound like he finished hearing, focusing on the end of the action rather than its immediate recency.
Since guardia ends in an 'a', shouldn't it be a feminine noun?
Guardia is an invariable noun when referring to a person, meaning the ending doesn't change based on gender. We use the article to show the person's gender: el guardia (the male guard) and la guardia (the female guard). Note that the feminine phrase la guardia can also refer to a collective guard force or the state of keeping watch.
Could we use escuchar instead of oír here?
This lesson focuses on past conjecture and probability. Does this sentence contain an assumption?
No, this sentence establishes a confirmed, factual background event using the indicative mood. In storytelling, sentences like this set the stage for past conjecture. Because the guard definitely heard the shot, the very next sentence might use the conditional perfect to guess what caused it, such as Alguien habría disparado (Someone must have fired).
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