Word
¿Se pueden identificar estas bacterias minúsculas en el laboratorio?
Meaning
Can these minuscule bacteria be identified in the laboratory?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of ¿Se pueden identificar estas bacterias minúsculas en el laboratorio?
en
in / on / at
poder
to be able to / can
estas
these (feminine)
se
(impersonal) one / passive marker
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?
Why does the subject estas bacterias minúsculas come after the verb phrase?
Wait, is the Spanish word bacterias plural? In English, 'bacteria' is already plural.