Question 1

Why is the verb supo instead of a regular form?

Accepted Answer

Supo is the Pretérito Indefinido (simple past) of saber. Saber belongs to a special group of verbs with an irregular 'u-stem' in this tense, meaning its base changes to sup-. The he/she/it ending for these irregular verbs is just -o, which gives us supo.

Question 2

The translation says 'found out', but doesn't saber mean 'to know'?

Accepted Answer

Yes! But when saber is used in the Pretérito Indefinido (completed past), it usually means 'found out', 'learned', or 'realized'. It refers to the exact moment the knowledge was acquired. If you wanted to describe the ongoing state of knowing in the past ('No one knew'), you would use the Pretérito Imperfecto form: Nadie sabía.

Question 3

Why does cómo have an accent mark here if it is not a direct question?

Accepted Answer

Question words like cómo, qué, and dónde keep their accent marks when they introduce an indirect question. The phrase cómo él logró ese resultado is an indirect way of asking 'How did he achieve it?', so cómo keeps its accent to distinguish it from the word como (like/as).

Question 4

Why isn't there a no before the verb to make it negative?

Accepted Answer

Because nadie (nobody or no one) is already a negative word. In Spanish, if a negative word like nadie or nunca comes directly before the verb, you do not use no. You only use a double negative if the negative word comes after the verb, like this: No lo supo nadie.

Question 5

What verb does logró come from?

Accepted Answer

It comes from the regular verb lograr, which means 'to achieve', 'to attain', or 'to manage to do something'. Here, logró is the he/she/it form in the past tense.

Nadie supo cómo él logró ese resultado.

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