Learn Spanish (Latin America): Acabo de romper el parabrisas.

Acabo de romper el parabrisas.

I just broke the windshield.

Breakdown of Acabo de romper el parabrisas.

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Questions & Answers about Acabo de romper el parabrisas.

Why does a singular word like parabrisas end with the letter s?

Parabrisas is a compound noun made from the verb parar (to stop) and the plural noun las brisas (the breezes). Because the second half of the word is already plural, the singular compound word naturally ends in s.

How do I make parabrisas plural?

Since parabrisas already ends in an s, the noun itself does not change when you make it plural. You only change the article. To say the windshields, you would say los parabrisas.

Wait, brisa is a feminine noun. Why do we use the masculine article el?

Almost all compound nouns formed by combining a verb and a noun are masculine in Spanish, regardless of the gender of the original noun. So, even though la brisa is feminine, the compound word el parabrisas is masculine.

Why is acabo in the present tense if the breaking already happened?

The phrase acabar de followed by an infinitive is a set structure that means to have just done something. Even though the action happened in the past, Spanish uses the present tense of acabar to show that the event just concluded a moment ago.