Breakdown of Nos hemos comprometido en la playa.
en
in / on / by (means of transport) / about (after pensar)
la playa
the beach
haber
to have (auxiliary)
comprometerse
to get engaged
Questions & Answers about Nos hemos comprometido en la playa.
Doesn't comprometer mean to compromise?
No, comprometerse is a false friend for English speakers. It actually means to get engaged to be married or to commit to something. If you want to say to compromise in the sense of making a concession, you would use phrases like llegar a un acuerdo or ceder.
Why is nos placed before the verb?
The word nos belongs to the reflexive verb comprometerse. It is placed immediately before the conjugated verb hemos. In this context, it acts as a reciprocal pronoun, indicating that we got engaged to each other.
Could I use the simple past nos comprometimos instead?
Yes, but it changes the feeling of when it happened. In Spain, the present perfect nos hemos comprometido implies the event happened very recently or in an unfinished time period like today or this week. If the engagement happened last year, a speaker from Spain would prefer the simple past nos comprometimos.
Why do we use en for on the beach instead of a specific word for on?
The Spanish preposition en is very versatile and can mean in, on, or at depending on the location. For general places like the beach, en la playa is the standard way to say you are at or on the beach. You do not need a word like sobre, which usually means physically on top of an object.