Esa deportista sigue compitiendo a los cuarenta años.

Questions & Answers about Esa deportista sigue compitiendo a los cuarenta años.

Why use sigue compitiendo instead of just using the word todavía (still)?
In Spanish, using the verb seguir (to continue) followed by a gerund (a verb ending in -ando or -iendo) is the most natural way to say someone is still doing or keeps doing an action. You could say todavía compite, but sigue compitiendo emphasizes that the action is ongoing.
Because deportista ends in -a, does that mean it is always a feminine noun?
No, nouns ending in -ista (like deportista, artista, turista) use the exact same word for both men and women. We only know the sentence refers to a sportswoman because of the feminine demonstrative word Esa (That) right before it. If it were about a man, it would be Ese deportista.
Why does the verb competir change to compitiendo instead of competiendo?
This is a stem change. When an -ir verb has an e to i or e to ie stem change in the present tense (like compite), that e also changes to an i in the gerund form. Other common examples include decir becoming diciendo and pedir becoming pidiendo.
How does a los cuarenta años translate to "at forty"?
To express that something happens at a certain age, Spanish uses the phrase a los followed by the number and the word años (years). It translates literally as "at the forty years". You can also shorten it by dropping the last word, saying simply a los cuarenta.

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