Breakdown of El aserradero que construyeron recién abrió.
abrir
to open
que
that / than
construir
to build
recién
freshly / just (recién hecho: freshly made)
el aserradero
sawmill
Questions & Answers about El aserradero que construyeron recién abrió.
In this sentence, how does recién abrió translate to "just opened"? I thought "just" was acaba de.
You are right that acabar de + infinitive (like acaba de abrir) is a standard way to say "to have just done something." However, in Latin America, it is extremely common to use recién directly before a conjugated verb—especially in the preterite—to mean the exact same thing. So, recién abrió means it "just opened."
Could recién be modifying construyeron instead of abrió?
In Spanish, adverbs usually stay close to the verb they modify. Because recién is placed directly in front of abrió, it means the sawmill "just opened." If you wanted to say "The sawmill they just built opened," you would place it immediately before the other verb: El aserradero que recién construyeron abrió.
Why use the simple preterite (abrió) with recién instead of the present perfect (ha abierto)?
In many parts of Latin America (especially in countries like Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile), the simple preterite is heavily preferred for actions that just happened. While recién ha abierto is grammatically correct and would be understood, recién abrió sounds much more natural in everyday Latin American speech.
Why does aserradero end in -dero instead of the usual -ería for businesses?
While -ería is common for retail shops (like panadería or carnicería), the suffix -dero attaches to verbs to indicate a place where a specific action happens. It comes from aserrar (to saw), making aserradero literally "the place where sawing happens." You will also see this in words like lavadero (washhouse or laundry room) or probadero (fitting room).
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