Question 1

Why do we use has visto here instead of the simple past viste?

Accepted Answer

Has visto is the present perfect tense. In Spain, this is the natural choice when asking about general life experiences without a specific timeframe, just like saying Have you seen in English. You would use viste (the preterite) if you were asking about a specific, finished time, such as adding ayer (yesterday).

Question 2

Since ver is an -er verb, why isn't the past participle vido?

Accepted Answer

Ver is one of the important verbs with an irregular past participle. Instead of following the normal rule and adding -ido, it changes entirely to visto. You simply have to memorize this form along with others like escrito (written) and hecho (done).

Question 3

Is there a rule for the gender of words ending in -al like documental?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the vast majority of nouns ending in -al are masculine, which is why it is el documental. This is a handy pattern to remember because many of these words are identical to English, such as el animal, el hospital, and el festival.

Question 4

Does sobre always mean about?

Accepted Answer

No. While here it means about or concerning a topic, sobre is also a very common preposition of place meaning on or over. For example, el libro está sobre la mesa means the book is on the table.

Question 5

Is the u in guerra pronounced?

Accepted Answer

No, the u is completely silent. In Spanish, the spelling combinations gue and gui use a silent u just to force the g to have a hard sound, like the g in the English word get. If the u weren't there, a g before an e would sound like a raspy English h.

¿Has visto el documental sobre la guerra?

Breakdown of ¿Has visto el documental sobre la guerra?

Questions & Answers about ¿Has visto el documental sobre la guerra?

Learn ¿Has visto el documental sobre la guerra and more in Spanish