Breakdown of El experto se dio cuenta de que debemos preservar estos fragmentos.
que
that / than
estos
these
deber
must / should
darse cuenta de
to realize
el experto
the expert
el fragmento
fragment
preservar
to preserve
Questions & Answers about El experto se dio cuenta de que debemos preservar estos fragmentos.
Why doesn't this sentence use the verb realizar for "realized"?
They are false friends! In Spanish, realizar means "to carry out", "to make", or "to fulfill" (like a project or a dream). To express the mental action of becoming aware of something, you must use darse cuenta de.
Why is there a de before que in se dio cuenta de que?
The verb phrase darse cuenta always requires the preposition de. When you add a clause starting with que (that), you must keep the de, forming de que. Dropping the de here is a common grammatical error known as queísmo.
Since se dio cuenta is in the past tense, shouldn't debemos also be in the past?
Normally, Spanish aligns past-tense main clauses with past-tense subordinate clauses. However, the present tense debemos (we must) is used here because the obligation to preserve the fragments is an ongoing truth that still applies right now. If the obligation only existed in the past, it would be debíamos.
Why isn't there an accent mark on estos?
In this sentence, estos is a demonstrative adjective because it directly modifies the noun fragmentos. Demonstrative adjectives have never taken an accent mark. (Note: Even if it were a standalone pronoun, the Royal Spanish Academy officially removed the accent requirement for demonstrative pronouns in 2010).
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