Breakdown of El sacerdote volverá a hablar, a pesar de que nadie lo escuche.
hablar
to speak / to talk
escuchar
to listen
lo
it / him (direct object)
nadie
no one
a pesar de que
even though / despite the fact that (stronger concession)
volver
to do again (volver a + infinitive)
el sacerdote
priest
Questions & Answers about El sacerdote volverá a hablar, a pesar de que nadie lo escuche.
Why is escuche in the subjunctive here instead of the indicative?
This is exactly what the current lesson covers! With concessive phrases like a pesar de que (even if / although), using the indicative (escucha) would state a known, current fact ("even though no one is listening right now"). Using the subjunctive (escuche) treats the lack of listeners as a hypothetical situation or a future possibility ("even if no one listens").
Why use volverá a hablar instead of just saying "hablará de nuevo"?
The structure volver a + [infinitive] is a very natural and standard way in Spanish to express doing an action "again." While adding de nuevo or otra vez to the future tense is grammatically correct, native speakers rely heavily on the volver a periphrasis in everyday speech.
Why doesn't the sentence use no if the translation says "no one listens"?
Because the negative word nadie (no one) is placed before the conjugated verb. In Spanish, if a negative word precedes the verb, you drop the no. If the sentence order were flipped to put the subject after the verb, you would then need the double negative: a pesar de que no lo escuche nadie.
Why is the direct object pronoun lo used here instead of the indirect object le?
The verb escuchar (to listen to) takes a direct object in Spanish. You are directly "listening the person," whereas in English you listen to them. Since we are referring to el sacerdote (a masculine singular noun), we use the standard direct object pronoun lo.
Learn El sacerdote volverá a hablar, a pesar de que nadie lo escuche 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