Breakdown of Hay que cavar profundo para extraer el mineral.
para
for / in order to (+ infinitive) / by (a deadline)
hay que
one must, it is necessary to (+ infinitive)
profundo
deep
cavar
to dig
extraer
to extract
el mineral
the mineral
Questions & Answers about Hay que cavar profundo para extraer el mineral.
Why do we use para instead of por in this sentence?
We use para followed by an infinitive verb (like extraer) to express a specific goal or purpose. It translates to 'in order to' or simply 'to' in English. Here, it tells us the purpose of the digging: in order to extract the mineral.
Why is the verb extraer not conjugated?
After the preposition para, any verb that immediately follows must stay in its infinitive (dictionary) form. In English, we say 'to extract', and in Spanish, para extraer works the exact same way to show the goal of an action.
Why does the sentence use Hay que instead of Tener que?
Why does the sentence use the adjective profundo instead of an adverb ending in -mente?
Sometimes Spanish uses the basic masculine singular form of an adjective to describe how an action is done. This is very common with physical actions. Cavar profundo translates smoothly to 'to dig deep', much like how in English we usually say 'dig deep' instead of 'dig deeply'.
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