Dejé los globos junto a la silla para que no subieran al techo.

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Breakdown of Dejé los globos junto a la silla para que no subieran al techo.

• al: to the
• dejar: to leave
• junto a: next to

Questions & Answers about Dejé los globos junto a la silla para que no subieran al techo.

Why is it dejé and not dejaba?

Dejé is the preterite of dejar, so it presents the action as a completed event: I left / I put the balloons there.

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about one specific action in the past:

• Dejé los globos junto a la silla... = I left the balloons next to the chair...

If you used dejaba, that would usually suggest a habit, background description, or an action seen as ongoing/repeated in the past:

• Dejaba los globos junto a la silla = I used to leave the balloons next to the chair / I was leaving the balloons next to the chair

So dejé fits best for a single completed action.

Why does Spanish use los globos instead of just globos?

Spanish often uses the definite article more than English does. Los globos means the balloons, and it sounds natural when referring to specific balloons already known in the context.

In English, we might sometimes say just I left balloons..., but in Spanish that often sounds less natural unless you really mean some balloons in a more indefinite way.

Compare:

• Dejé los globos... = I left the balloons...
• Dejé unos globos... = I left some balloons...

So los tells you these are specific balloons, not just any balloons.

What does junto a mean? Could I say something else?