Mi amiga no quiso rechazar la invitación, pero estaba demasiado cansada.

My friend did not want to reject the invitation, but she was too tired.

Breakdown of Mi amiga no quiso rechazar la invitación, pero estaba demasiado cansada.

• mi: my
• estar: to be
• ella: she
• querer: to want

Questions & Answers about Mi amiga no quiso rechazar la invitación, pero estaba demasiado cansada.

Why is quiso used instead of quería for "didn't want"?

In Spanish, quiso (preterite tense) underlines a clear, completed refusal in that moment. Using quería (imperfect tense) would suggest an ongoing or habitual state of mind, but here we want to emphasize the specific occasion where she actively decided not to refuse the invitation.

Why does cansada appear in the feminine form?

The word cansada must match the gender of the subject, amiga, who is female. Adjectives in Spanish change endings depending on whether they refer to a masculine or feminine noun (e.g., cansado for a male, cansada for a female).

What does demasiado mean, and why is it placed before cansada?

Demasiado means too or too much in English. It's an adverb here modifying the adjective cansada, indicating that she was excessively tired. In Spanish, adverbs typically come before the adjective they modify.

Can I replace pero with sino?

No. Sino is generally used to contrast negative statements ("not A but B"). In this sentence, we use pero because it's simply connecting two clauses: first, that she did not want to refuse, and second, she was too tired. Sino wouldn’t make sense here since it's not a direct negation of a previous statement, but rather an additional piece of information.