Breakdown of Mi abuela decía que, si trabajábamos con paciencia, siempre teníamos éxito.
con
with
mi
my
nosotros
we
trabajar
to work
que
that
si
if
decir
to say
siempre
always
la paciencia
the patience
la abuela
the grandmother
tener éxito
to succeed
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Questions & Answers about Mi abuela decía que, si trabajábamos con paciencia, siempre teníamos éxito.
Why is decía in the imperfect tense instead of dijo?
The imperfect tense in Spanish describes habitual or ongoing past actions. By saying Mi abuela decía…, you convey “my grandmother used to say…” or “she would always say….” Using dijo would imply she said it only once, at a specific moment.
What is the function of que after decía?
After verbs of speaking, thinking or feeling, Spanish uses the conjunction que (that) to introduce what is being said or thought. So decía que simply means “she used to say that…”
Why are trabajábamos and teníamos both in the imperfect indicative?
The sentence describes a repeated past condition and its outcome. Spanish expresses general or habitual past “if…then” statements (type-0 conditions) with si + imperfect indicative in both clauses. Here, “if we worked with patience, we always succeeded” refers to a pattern in the past, not a one-time event or hypothetical.
Could we say si trabajáramos and tendríamos éxito instead?
No. That combination—si + imperfect subjunctive (trabajáramos) followed by the conditional (tendríamos)—is used for hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situations (“if we were to work with patience, we would succeed”). The original sentence states a factual, repeated past occurrence, so the indicative is required.
Why is éxito written with an accent on the e?
Éxito is an esdrújula word (stress on the antepenultimate syllable). In Spanish, all esdrújulas must carry a written accent on the stressed vowel—hence the accent on é.
Why is con paciencia used without an article?
Spanish often uses con + noun without an article to express manner or means. Con paciencia literally means “with patience.” Adding an article (la paciencia) would make it more specific (“with the patience”), which isn’t needed here.
Why is siempre placed before teníamos?
Adverbs of frequency like siempre (“always”) typically come before the main verb to indicate how often the action occurred. Siempre teníamos éxito means “we always succeeded.”
Is the comma after que necessary?
The comma after que is optional. It signals a pause and can help readability, but grammatically you can omit it:
Mi abuela decía que si trabajábamos con paciencia, siempre teníamos éxito.