ELONIO
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Recién cortamos esta madera en el aserradero.

Recién cortamos esta madera en el aserradero.
We just cut this wood in the sawmill.
From Lesson 413:Just happened (recién)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Recién cortamos esta madera en el aserradero.

Why is the translation "We just cut" instead of "We recently cut"?
In Latin America, placing recién directly before a conjugated verb expresses immediate past, meaning the action just happened. While the word translates literally to recently, this specific grammatical structure is the everyday way to say you just finished doing something.
Could I say Acabamos de cortar instead?
Yes, acabamos de cortar means the exact same thing. However, using recién + a conjugated verb is extremely common in everyday Latin American Spanish as a shorter, punchier alternative to the acabar de + infinitive structure.
Is cortamos in the present or past tense in this sentence?
It functions as the preterite (past) tense here. The nosotros form for regular -ar verbs like cortar is exactly the same in both the present and the preterite. Because it follows recién to describe a completed action, context tells us it is in the past.
How can I easily remember the word aserradero?
You can break it down into its roots. It comes from the verb aserrar (to saw), which is related to the noun sierra (a saw). The suffix -dero is used to indicate a place where a specific action happens. Just like a lavadero is a place for washing, an aserradero is a place for sawing wood.

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