Breakdown of El martes pasado nevó tanto que las clases en el teatro se cancelaron.
Questions & Answers about El martes pasado nevó tanto que las clases en el teatro se cancelaron.
In Spanish, days of the week almost always take the definite article el when you talk about a specific day:
- El martes pasado = last Tuesday
- El lunes, el miércoles, etc.
Leaving out el (“martes pasado”) sounds incomplete or foreign. Native speakers would virtually always say el martes pasado in this context.
Yes, el pasado martes is grammatically correct, but:
- El martes pasado is by far the most common, neutral way to say last Tuesday.
- El pasado martes sounds a bit more formal or written, and is less frequent in everyday speech.
Both mean the same thing; for natural speech, prefer el martes pasado.
Pasado is agreeing with martes, not with nieve.
- martes is a masculine singular noun → el martes
- So the adjective pasado must also be masculine singular → el martes pasado
Even though la nieve (snow) is feminine, it doesn’t affect pasado here, because pasado is directly modifying martes.
Both are past tenses but they emphasize different things:
- Nevó (preterite): a completed event on a specific occasion.
- El martes pasado nevó tanto… → It snowed a lot that specific Tuesday (event viewed as finished).
- Nevaba (imperfect): background, ongoing or habitual past action.
- El martes pasado nevaba would sound like describing the general weather that day, not necessarily linking it as a single completed event that caused the cancellation.
In this sentence, nevó fits better because we’re talking about one event that led to the classes being cancelled.
In Spanish, weather verbs like nevar, llover, hacer frío are usually impersonal:
- Nevó = It snowed
- Llovía = It was raining
- Hace frío = It is cold
There is no expressed subject and Spanish does not use a dummy pronoun like English “it”.
Saying ello nevó is not natural Spanish; natives just say nevó.
Tanto and tan are used differently:
- Tan goes with adjectives and adverbs:
- Era tan grande que… = It was so big that…
- Tanto goes with verbs (amount of action) or nouns (quantity):
- Nevó tanto que… = It snowed so much that…
- Había tanta nieve que… = There was so much snow that…
Here we’re modifying the verb nevó (how much it snowed), so tanto is correct: nevó tanto que…
The structure tanto… que (or tan… que) expresses such a degree that or so much that:
- Nevó tanto que las clases… se cancelaron.
= It snowed so much that the classes were cancelled.
It links a cause (intensity/quantity) to a consequence.
Las clases en el teatro means the classes that take place in the theatre (as a location).
- en el teatro = in/at the theatre (the place)
If the intended meaning were “theatre/drama classes” (the subject of the class), you’d usually say:
- las clases de teatro = theatre classes / drama lessons
So:
- las clases en el teatro → classes located in the theatre
- las clases de teatro → classes about theatre as a subject
Spanish normally uses the definite article (el, la, los, las) more often than English, especially when referring to a specific, known group:
- Las clases en el teatro = the classes in the theatre (those particular classes that both speaker and listener can identify).
- Saying just clases en el teatro would sound incomplete; it would only work in some very telegraphic or list-like contexts (e.g. headlines, bullet points).
So las is natural here to mark that we know which classes we’re talking about.
Spanish en covers both English in and at (and sometimes on):
- en casa = at home / in the house
- en la universidad = at the university / in the university
- en el teatro = at the theatre / in the theatre
Context decides whether English uses in or at, but Spanish uses en for both.
Here se is not reflexive. It’s the so‑called “pasiva con se” (passive with se), very common in Spanish:
- Se cancelaron las clases ≈ The classes were cancelled.
Characteristics:
- It focuses on the event (the classes being cancelled), not on who cancelled them.
- The verb agrees with the thing affected:
- Se canceló la clase (singular)
- Se cancelaron las clases (plural)
So se cancelaron means “were cancelled”, without mentioning the agent.
Yes, las clases en el teatro fueron canceladas is correct. Differences in nuance:
- Se cancelaron las clases en el teatro
- Very common, more neutral and natural in everyday Spanish.
- Slightly more impersonal, focuses on the fact that the classes ended up cancelled.
- Las clases en el teatro fueron canceladas
- Clearer passive with ser.
- Sounds a bit more formal or written, or used when you might later mention by whom (e.g. por la dirección).
Both are acceptable; se cancelaron is what people typically say in conversation.
The verb has to agree with its grammatical subject:
- Subject: las clases en el teatro → clases is plural
- Therefore: se cancelaron (third person plural preterite of cancelar)
If it were singular:
- La clase en el teatro se canceló. → one class was cancelled.
So the plural form cancelaron is required because clases is plural.