Learn Spanish (Latin America): Cada tiburón del acuario viene a comer cincuenta peces por semana. - Each shark in the aquarium ends up eating roughly fifty fish per week.

Cada tiburón del acuario viene a comer cincuenta peces por semana.

Each shark in the aquarium ends up eating roughly fifty fish per week.

Breakdown of Cada tiburón del acuario viene a comer cincuenta peces por semana.

Questions & Answers about Cada tiburón del acuario viene a comer cincuenta peces por semana.

Why does viene a comer mean ends up eating roughly instead of just comes to eat?

This is a special verbal phrase (a periphrasis) using venir a followed by an infinitive. Instead of talking about physical movement, it adds an idea of approximation or a final summary. Here, it means the shark eats roughly or averages out to fifty fish. It is often translated as ends up doing [something] or does approximately [something].

Could I just say come aproximadamente instead of using viene a comer?

Yes, come aproximadamente cincuenta peces is perfectly correct and means almost the exact same thing. However, using viene a comer sounds a bit more natural when you are calculating a total, expressing an average over time, or summarizing a result like a food budget.

Why are the fish called peces here? Shouldn't food fish be pescados?

Normally, yes! We use peces for live fish in the water and pescado for fish that has been caught and prepared as food for humans. However, since a shark hunts and eats whole, live fish in its tank, those fish are still considered peces at the moment they become lunch.

Why is it por semana here instead of a la semana?