No cubrió la base, sino que llegó al borde.

to the

Breakdown of No cubrió la base, sino que llegó al borde.

• llegar: to arrive
• no: not
• sino que: but rather

Questions & Answers about No cubrió la base, sino que llegó al borde.

Why are cubrió and llegó in that form? What tense is this?

They are both in the preterite tense: cubrió = he/she/it covered, and llegó = he/she/it arrived/reached.

Spanish uses the preterite for actions seen as completed events. In this sentence, the speaker is talking about two finished actions:

• No cubrió la base = he/she/it did not cover the base
• sino que llegó al borde = but instead he/she/it reached the edge

If the idea were more descriptive, ongoing, or habitual, Spanish might use the imperfect instead.

Why is there no subject pronoun like él or ella?

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already tells you the person and number.

Here:

• cubrió
• llegó

both clearly mean he/she/it.

So Spanish usually does not say él or ella unless the speaker wants to:

• emphasize the subject,
• contrast it with someone else,
• or avoid confusion.

A full version like Él no cubrió la base, sino que llegó al borde is possible, but it sounds more emphatic.

Why does the sentence use no ... sino que ... instead of pero?