Breakdown of A todo esto, la música marcaba el tiempo fuerte.
Questions & Answers about A todo esto, la música marcaba el tiempo fuerte.
A todo esto is a fixed expression. Grammatically, it is not being used in a literal word-by-word way such as to all this. In real Spanish, it works as a discourse marker: it helps connect the sentence to the surrounding situation.
Depending on context, it can mean things like:
- meanwhile
- in the middle of all this
- with all this going on
- sometimes even by the way
In this sentence, it most likely means something like meanwhile / with all this happening. It sets the scene before the main statement: la música marcaba el tiempo fuerte.
Because A todo esto is an introductory expression. In Spanish, short introductory phrases are often separated by a comma, especially when they set the frame for what follows.
So the comma helps show that:
- A todo esto = background/frame
- la música marcaba el tiempo fuerte = main clause
It is similar to English punctuation in sentences like Meanwhile, the music was marking the strong beat.