Breakdown of El operador acaba de coger el teléfono.
el teléfono
the phone
coger
to take
acabar
to finish (or to have just + infinitive)
de
linking word before an infinitive (after 'to have just')
el operador
the operator
Questions & Answers about El operador acaba de coger el teléfono.
Why does the Spanish sentence use the present tense acaba when the English translation says 'has just answered' in the past?
The structure acabar de followed by an infinitive is a set phrase meaning to have just done something. In this structure, acabar is conjugated in the present tense to express that the action happened just a moment ago. So, acaba de coger is the standard way to say has just answered or just answered.
Doesn't coger mean to take or to catch? Why is it translated here as answered?
How would we change this sentence to say that someone just answered the phone, using the impersonal form from this lesson?
You would drop the specific subject el operador and conjugate the verb in the third-person plural: Acaban de coger el teléfono. By using the plural without a specific subject pronoun, it perfectly translates the idea of 'Someone just answered the phone' or 'They just answered the phone' when the actual person is unknown or irrelevant.
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