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¿Se pueden identificar estas bacterias minúsculas en el laboratorio?

¿Se pueden identificar estas bacterias minúsculas en el laboratorio?
Can these minuscule bacteria be identified in the laboratory?
From Lesson 477:Passive reflexive with modals (se pueden...)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about ¿Se pueden identificar estas bacterias minúsculas en el laboratorio?

Why is it pueden (plural) when the action right next to it is the infinitive identificar?
This is the passive reflexive structure. The actual subject of the sentence is estas bacterias minúsculas. Since the subject is plural, the conjugated modal verb pueden must also be plural to match it, even though the main action is expressed by the infinitive identificar.
Could I attach the se to the end of the infinitive instead?
Yes! When working with a conjugated verb plus an infinitive, you can place the pronoun before the conjugated verb or attach it to the end of the infinitive. So, ¿Pueden identificarse estas bacterias minúsculas...? is completely correct and means the exact same thing.
Why does the subject estas bacterias minúsculas come after the verb phrase?
In Spanish, it is extremely common to place the subject after the verb in passive reflexive sentences. This is especially true in questions. While you could technically say ¿Estas bacterias minúsculas se pueden identificar...?, placing the subject after the verb sounds much more natural.
Wait, is the Spanish word bacterias plural? In English, 'bacteria' is already plural.
Yes, this is a tricky difference! In English, 'bacteria' is the plural of 'bacterium'. But in Spanish, bacteria is a standard singular feminine noun (meaning one bacterium). To talk about multiple bacteria, you must add an 's' to make it bacterias, which is why it triggers the plural modifiers estas and minúsculas here.

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