Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Mi mamá estaba a punto de cancelar la suscripción, aunque el precio fuera bajo. - My mom was about to cancel the subscription, even though the price was low.

Aunque el precio era bajo = Although the price was low (the speaker presents the low price as a plain fact).
Aunque el precio fuera bajo = Even though / although the price was low but with a stronger sense of:
- concession (it doesn’t matter that it was low), or
- something that goes against what you’d expect (you’d expect her not to cancel if it was low).

So fuera adds a nuance of “even though / no matter that,” instead of just reporting a fact. Grammatically, both are possible; the writer chose subjunctive for that concessive, slightly more “even though” feel.

What exactly does estaba a punto de cancelar mean, and how is it different from a simpler iba a cancelar?

Both talk about a near future in the past, but they’re not identical:

Estar a punto de + infinitive
- Literally: to be at the point of (doing something)
- Estaba a punto de cancelar = She was just about to cancel / she was on the verge of canceling.
- Emphasizes imminence: it was about to happen any second.
Ir a + infinitive (imperfect)
- Iba a cancelar la suscripción = She was going to cancel the subscription.
- Emphasizes intention or plan, not necessarily that it was seconds away.

So estaba a punto de cancelar paints a more dramatic, “almost happened right then” picture than iba a cancelar.

Why is estaba (imperfect) used instead of estuvo?

Estaba is the imperfect tense, which is used for:

background descriptions in the past,
ongoing or “in progress” situations,
things without a clear starting/ending point in the narrative.

Mi mamá estaba a punto de cancelar… presents her being “about to cancel” as the background situation at that time.

If you said Mi mamá estuvo a punto de cancelar la suscripción, it’s still correct, but:

Estuvo (preterite) sounds more like a completed, specific incident: “There was this one time when she almost canceled.”
Estaba feels more like setting the scene: at that point in the story, she was on the verge of canceling.

The chosen estaba fits a narrative style where you’re describing how things were at that moment.

Why do we need the article la in la suscripción? Could we just say cancelar suscripción?

In Spanish you usually need a definite article when talking about a specific, known thing, even where English often drops it.

Cancelar la suscripción = cancel the subscription (a particular one both speaker and listener know about: Netflix, a magazine, etc.)
Cancelar suscripción (without la) sounds incomplete or telegraphic, like a headline or a button label on a website.

So in normal speech or writing, la suscripción is natural because we’re clearly talking about a specific subscription.

How does aunque work with indicative vs. subjunctive? What’s the difference between aunque el precio era bajo and aunque el precio fuera bajo?

Aunque can be followed by either indicative or subjunctive, and the choice changes the nuance:

Indicative (era / es / fue, etc.)
- States a fact the speaker takes as real.
- Aunque el precio era bajo = Although the price was low (it definitely was low).
Subjunctive (fuera / sea, etc.)
- Often expresses:
  - concession with some emotional or evaluative distance (“no matter that it was low”), or
  - something hypothetical / not fully endorsed by the speaker.
- Aunque el precio fuera bajo ≈ Even though the price was low / Even if the price was low.

In your sentence, fuera adds the idea that the low price is not enough to change what she was about to do. It’s more like: “She was about to cancel, low price or not.”

Can I flip the order of the clauses, like: Aunque el precio fuera bajo, mi mamá estaba a punto de cancelar la suscripción?

Yes, that’s completely correct and very natural:

Mi mamá estaba a punto de cancelar la suscripción, aunque el precio fuera bajo.
Aunque el precio fuera bajo, mi mamá estaba a punto de cancelar la suscripción.

Both mean the same. The difference is just what you emphasize first:

Starting with Aunque el precio fuera bajo makes the contrast with the low price more prominent.
Ending with aunque el precio fuera bajo feels like an afterthought or explanation added at the end.

The comma is normally used in either order to separate the two clauses.

Why is it bajo (masculine singular) and not baja or something else?

Adjectives in Spanish must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify:

el precio → masculine singular
Therefore: bajo → masculine singular adjective

Examples:

El precio bajo (singular, masculine)
Los precios bajos (plural, masculine)
La tarifa baja (singular, feminine)
Las tarifas bajas (plural, feminine)

So bajo matches el precio in gender (masculine) and number (singular).

What’s the difference between mamá and madre, and why does mamá have an accent?

Mamá = mom / mum
- More informal, affectionate, everyday word.
- Very common in Latin America.
Madre = mother
- More neutral or formal.
- Often used in more serious contexts, or when speaking about someone else’s mother.

The accent on mamá is important:

mamá (stressed on the last syllable) = mom
mama (no accent) is a different word, usually the verb mamar (to suckle) in 3rd person, or can refer to “breast” in some contexts. You don’t want to confuse these.

So Mi mamá is the natural, warm way to say My mom in Latin American Spanish.

Is fuera here only from ser? What about fuera meaning “outside”?

There are two different words fuera in Spanish:

Fuera as a verb form
- Imperfect subjunctive of ser (and also ir).
- Here: el precio fuera bajo → from ser.
Fuera as an adverb/preposition
- Means outside / out.
- Example: Está fuera de la casa. = He/She is outside the house.

They’re spelled the same but work differently in the sentence. In your example, fuera is clearly the verb form because it’s followed by bajo (an adjective), forming a predicate: “the price were low.”

Are there any important Latin American vs. Spain differences in this sentence?

The sentence is fully natural in Latin American Spanish and also easily understood in Spain. A few slight tendencies:

Mamá vs. madre:
- In both Latin America and Spain, mamá is used, but in Spain you may hear mi madre a bit more often in neutral speech.
The structure estar a punto de + infinitive and the use of aunque + imperfect subjunctive are standard on both sides of the Atlantic.
Vocabulary like suscripción, precio, cancelar is standard everywhere.

So, for Latin American Spanish, this sentence is perfectly typical and doesn’t need any regional adjustment.