Question 1

Why do we use the preterite tense (vimos) here instead of the imperfect tense?

Accepted Answer

The phrase la semana pasada (last week) tells us this is a completed action in the past with a clear timeframe. When an action is completely finished like this, we use the preterite tense (vimos) rather than the imperfect tense, which is used for ongoing or background past actions.

Question 2

I noticed vimos doesn't have an accent mark. Don't past tense verbs usually have accents?

Accepted Answer

Usually, regular past tense verbs have accents on the first and third person singular forms. However, the verb ver (to see) is irregular in the preterite tense. None of its forms (vi, viste, vio, vimos, visteis, vieron) use accent marks.

Question 3

Does the word jirafas change to a masculine word if the giraffes are male?

Accepted Answer

No, jirafa is a noun that is always feminine, regardless of the animal's biological sex. If you really needed to specify that they were male giraffes, you would add the word for male and say jirafas macho.

Question 4

Why does the sentence use en instead of a for "at the zoo"?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, the preposition en is used to talk about a static location where someone is or something is happening (meaning in, on, or at). The preposition a is used to show movement or destination, like when you are traveling "to" a place.

Question 5

How is the word zoo pronounced in Spain?

Accepted Answer

In Spain, the letter z is typically pronounced like the English "th" in "think". The double o is pronounced as a slightly elongated Spanish o. So it sounds roughly like "th-oh-oh". It does not use the buzzing English "z" sound.

La semana pasada vimos dos jirafas en el zoo.

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