Breakdown of ¿Qué ha dicho el cirujano sobre el hombro esta semana?
qué
what
la semana
the week
decir
to say / to tell
sobre
on / about
Questions & Answers about ¿Qué ha dicho el cirujano sobre el hombro esta semana?
Why do we use ha dicho here instead of the simple past dijo?
In Spanish from Spain, the present perfect tense (ha dicho) is used for past actions that happen in an unfinished time frame. The clue here is esta semana (this week). Because the week is not over yet, you use ha dicho rather than the simple past dijo.
dicho doesn't look like a normal past participle. What verb is this?
It is the highly irregular past participle of the verb decir (to say or to tell). Instead of ending in the regular -ido for -ir verbs, it changes completely to dicho.
Does the word sobre always mean about?
If the surgeon was talking about a specific patient's shoulder, would it be better to say su hombro (his/her shoulder)?
In Spanish, it is standard to use definite articles like el or la (the) for body parts instead of possessive words like su (his/her), as long as the context makes it obvious whose body part is being discussed.