Breakdown of El oftalmólogo ya ha confirmado el diagnóstico.
ya
already / now (right now)
confirmar
to confirm
haber
(auxiliary) have
el oftalmólogo
ophthalmologist
Questions & Answers about El oftalmólogo ya ha confirmado el diagnóstico.
Since the current lesson is about using lo for abstract concepts, could I say lo diagnóstico here?
No, because diagnóstico is a noun (the diagnosis), not an adjective. The structure lo + [adjective] is used to turn an adjective into an abstract noun, like lo bueno (the good part). Since diagnóstico is already a masculine noun, it simply takes the standard masculine article el.
Why is ya placed before the entire verb phrase instead of in the middle like in English ('has already confirmed')?
In Spanish, the auxiliary verb (ha) and the past participle (confirmado) are strictly inseparable in perfect tenses. You cannot put an adverb between them. Words like ya (already) must go before the conjugated auxiliary verb, or occasionally after the entire verb phrase, but never inside it.
Why do both oftalmólogo and diagnóstico have written accent marks?
They are both 'esdrújula' words, meaning the spoken stress falls on the third-to-last syllable (of-tal-mó-lo-go and diag-nós-ti-co). In Spanish grammar, all words with this stress pattern automatically require a written accent mark.
Is oftalmólogo the most common way to say 'eye doctor' in everyday Latin American Spanish?