Breakdown of El testigo del suceso relató que el tiroteo había empezado de repente.
de
from / of
empezar
to start / to begin
que
that / than
el testigo
the witness
Questions & Answers about El testigo del suceso relató que el tiroteo había empezado de repente.
Why is suceso translated as "incident" rather than "success"?
Suceso is a classic false friend. It means an event, happening, or incident, and is very commonly used in the news for crimes or accidents. If you want to say "success" in Spanish, you should use éxito.
If the witness were a woman, would the word change to la testiga?
Why does the sentence use the past perfect (había empezado) instead of the preterite (empezó)?
The past perfect is used to describe a past action that happened before another past action. Because the shootout started before the witness recounted it (relató), using había empezado establishes the correct timeline of events.