Question 1

Why is it el rompecabezas and not el rompecabeza if it's just one puzzle?

Accepted Answer

Rompecabezas is a compound noun made from the verb romper (to break) and the plural noun cabezas (heads). In Spanish, when a compound noun is formed by combining a verb and a noun, the noun part is almost always plural, even when referring to a single item. So, one puzzle is still el rompecabezas.

Question 2

If rompecabezas is singular here, how do I make it plural to say 'the puzzles'?

Accepted Answer

You simply change the article to plural: los rompecabezas. Because the noun already ends in an -s (and the spoken stress isn't on the final syllable), the word itself doesn't change when pluralized. The article does all the work to show the quantity.

Question 3

Why use the past subjunctive terminara instead of the infinitive terminar like in English ('told him to finish')?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, when you tell, ask, or order someone else to do something, you use a verb of influence (like decir) plus que and the subjunctive. Because the main verb (dije) is in the past tense, the dependent verb must be in the past (imperfect) subjunctive (terminara). You would only use the infinitive if the subject wasn't changing, for example: Quería terminar el rompecabezas (I wanted to finish the puzzle).

Question 4

Could dije que terminara also mean 'I said that I would finish'?

Accepted Answer

Yes, out of context it technically could, because the first-person and third-person forms of the imperfect subjunctive are identical (yo terminara and él terminara). However, because the sentence starts with Le dije (I told him), the listener naturally assumes the person being spoken to (him) is the one expected to do the finishing.

Le dije que terminara el rompecabezas.

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