Breakdown of El niño durmió profundamente anoche.
el niño
the boy / the child
dormir
to sleep
anoche
last night
profundamente
deeply
Questions & Answers about El niño durmió profundamente anoche.
Why is the verb durmió spelled with a 'u' instead of an 'o'?
How is the word profundamente formed?
Adding -mente to an adjective in Spanish is exactly like adding '-ly' in English. To build it, you take the feminine singular form of the adjective (profunda, meaning deep) and attach -mente to create profundamente (deeply).
Why do we use the Pretérito Indefinido (simple past) tense here rather than the Imperfect?
The word anoche (last night) refers to a specific, completed timeframe. We use the Pretérito Indefinido for actions that are viewed as a single, finished event, whereas the Imperfect past tense is used for ongoing background descriptions or repeated habits.
Why does durmió have an accent mark?
The accent mark tells you that the spoken stress falls on the final o. This is the standard ending for third-person singular -er and -ir verbs in the Pretérito Indefinido. Putting the spoken emphasis on that final syllable helps listeners instantly recognize it as a past-tense verb.
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