¿Ya te ha explicado la operación el cirujano?
Has the surgeon explained the operation to you already?
Breakdown of ¿Ya te ha explicado la operación el cirujano?
te
to you / yourself (reflexive) / you (direct object)
explicar
to explain
haber
to have (auxiliary)
ya
already
la operación
the operation
el cirujano
the surgeon
Questions & Answers about ¿Ya te ha explicado la operación el cirujano?
Why is ya at the very beginning of the sentence? Can I put it at the end like in English?
Yes, you can put it at the end! In Spanish, ya (already) is quite flexible. You can say ¿Te ha explicado la operación el cirujano ya? or keep it at the beginning as shown here. Putting it at the beginning often adds a slight emphasis. Just remember that you can never put ya between the two parts of the verb (ha and explicado).
Why is te placed before ha instead of attached to explicado?
In the pretérito perfecto (present perfect tense), object pronouns like te must always go immediately before the conjugated form of haber (which is ha here). You cannot separate the two parts of the verb, and you cannot attach pronouns to the end of a past participle like explicado.
Why is the subject el cirujano at the very end of the sentence?
Spanish word order is much more flexible than English, especially in questions. It is very common to put the subject at the end of a question, after the verb and the object. You could also say ¿El cirujano ya te ha explicado la operación?, but putting the subject at the end flows very naturally in spoken Spanish.
Learn ¿Ya te ha explicado la operación el cirujano and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free