Breakdown of Acaban de teletransportarse para esquivar la emboscada.
para
for
acabar de
to have just
esquivar
to dodge
teletransportarse
to teleport
la emboscada
the ambush
Questions & Answers about Acaban de teletransportarse para esquivar la emboscada.
The sentence uses the present tense acaban, but the English translation says 'They just teleported' in the past tense. Why is that?
The phrase acabar de followed by an infinitive is a set structure meaning 'to have just done something'. Even though acaban is conjugated in the present tense, this structure is always used to talk about the immediate past.
Why is there a -se attached to the end of teletransportarse?
Teleporting here is an action the subjects are performing on themselves to move their own bodies, so it requires the reflexive pronoun se. Because it follows the preposition de, the verb stays in its infinitive form and the pronoun attaches directly to the end. You could also place the pronoun before the conjugated verb: se acaban de teletransportar.
Does the prefix tele- work like the intensifying prefixes re- or súper- that we are currently learning?
Not exactly. While prefixes like re- or súper- intensify the degree of an existing word, tele- is a descriptive prefix meaning 'at a distance'. It combines with transportar to create the specific concept of teleportation, rather than just making regular transportation more intense.
Could I use evitar instead of esquivar to mean 'dodge'?
Evitar means 'to avoid' or 'to prevent' in a general sense, like avoiding a tricky conversation. Esquivar is much more physical and sudden, meaning 'to dodge' or 'to sidestep' an attack or obstacle, which perfectly fits the context of an ambush (emboscada).
Why do we use para instead of por before esquivar?
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