Breakdown of La huelga del transporte acaba de empezar.
empezar
to begin
el transporte
the transport
acabar
to finish (or to have just + infinitive)
de
linking word before an infinitive (after 'to have just')
Questions & Answers about La huelga del transporte acaba de empezar.
Why does it say acaba de empezar instead of using a past tense?
The phrase acabar de followed by an infinitive verb (like empezar) is a special structure that means "to have just done" something. Even though it translates to a past action in English, Spanish uses the present tense for acabar.
Could I use terminar instead of acabar here?
No. While terminar and acabar both normally mean "to finish", only acabar de plus an infinitive is used as a set phrase to say something has "just" happened. If you used terminar de empezar, it would literally mean "to finish starting", which sounds unnatural.
Why is it del transporte instead of de el transporte?
Whenever the preposition de is immediately followed by the masculine word for the (el), they must combine into the single word del. It is a mandatory rule in Spanish to make pronunciation smoother.
Would it be correct to just say huelga de transporte?