Breakdown of ¿Quién inventó el teléfono hace un siglo?
un
a, an, some
el teléfono
the phone
quién
who
el siglo
the century
inventar
to invent
hace
ago / for (a period up to now, with the present)
Questions & Answers about ¿Quién inventó el teléfono hace un siglo?
Why does the word hace mean "ago" in this sentence instead of "makes" or "does"?
When you use hace followed by a period of time, it translates to "ago". The structure is literally "it makes a century", but in English, we say "a century ago". It is the standard way to talk about how long ago a completed action happened in Spanish!
Can I put hace un siglo at the beginning of the question?
Yes, you can! You could say ¿Hace un siglo, quién inventó el teléfono? Putting the time expression at the beginning or the end of the sentence is completely fine and does not change the meaning.
Why does inventó have an accent mark on the ó?
That accent mark tells us two things. First, it shows that the spoken emphasis is on that final syllable. Second, it shows that this is the past tense (preterite) for "he/she/it". If you wrote invento without the accent, it would mean "I invent" in the present tense, or the noun "invention"!
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