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¿En qué año nació tu abuelo?

¿En qué año nació tu abuelo?
In what year was your grandfather born?
From Lesson 128:The preterite tense of -er and -ir verbs (-í, -ió)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about ¿En qué año nació tu abuelo?

Why is nació just one word here, when the English translation says 'was born'?
In English, we use the passive phrase 'to be born' ('was born'). In Spanish, being born is a normal active verb: nacer. The word nació is the 'he/she/it' form in the preterite (past) tense, so it covers both 'was' and 'born' in a single word.
How does the ending of nació show that it happened in the past?
It uses the regular preterite ending -ió. For regular -er verbs like nacer, you drop the -er and add -ió for the 'he/she/it' form. The accent mark on the ó is crucial because it tells you the action is completed in the past.
Why does qué have an accent mark in this sentence?
Question words like qué (what/which), cuándo (when), and dónde (where) always carry a written accent mark when they are used to ask a direct or indirect question.
Why does the verb nació come before the subject tu abuelo?
In Spanish questions, it is very common to switch the word order so the verb comes right after the question phrase (En qué año) and before the subject (tu abuelo).

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