Breakdown of Están divorciados desde el año pasado.
estar
to be (location/state)
el año
the year
pasado
past / last
desde
since / from (a starting point)
divorciado
divorced
Questions & Answers about Están divorciados desde el año pasado.
Why does this sentence use estar (están) instead of ser for being divorced? Isn't divorce a permanent status?
Even though being divorced seems permanent, Spanish traditionally treats marital statuses (like soltero, casado, or divorciado) as states of being, so you use estar. Think of it as the current state resulting from a past action, rather than an inherent characteristic.
The English translation uses the present perfect (have been divorced), but están is in the simple present tense. Why?
In Spanish, when a state started in the past and is still continuing right now, you use the present tense along with desde (since). Because they are still divorced today, Spanish literally says they are divorced since last year.
Could I use desde hace here instead of just desde?
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