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El estudiante hace una pregunta al profesor.

El estudiante hace una pregunta al profesor.
The student asks the teacher a question.
From Lesson 98:Basic reported speech (dice que)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El estudiante hace una pregunta al profesor.

Why does the sentence say hace una pregunta instead of using a verb that means 'asks'?
In Spanish, saying pregunta una pregunta (asks a question) sounds redundant. Instead, Spanish speakers 'make' a question using the verb hacer. If you just want to use the verb 'to ask', you would drop the noun and simply say El estudiante pregunta al profesor (The student asks the teacher).
Since we are learning reported speech, how would I report the specific question the student asked?
When you want to report what someone is asking (for example, 'The student asks if...'), you usually drop the noun phrase hacer una pregunta and just use the reporting verb preguntar. For example: El estudiante pregunta si hay tarea (The student asks if there is homework).
Why is it al profesor and not just el profesor?
Al is a mandatory contraction of the preposition a (to) and the article el (the). You need the a because the teacher is the indirect object—the person the question is being directed to. In Spanish, you always ask a question to someone.

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