Breakdown of El estudiante hace una pregunta al profesor.
el estudiante
the student
el profesor
the teacher
al
to the
hacer una pregunta
to ask a question
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'?
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.