Hoy había una oferta de papel higiénico, así que compré dos rollos.

Today there was a sale on toilet paper, so I bought two rolls.

Breakdown of Hoy había una oferta de papel higiénico, así que compré dos rollos.

• yo: I
• una: a
• hoy: today
• comprar: to buy

Questions & Answers about Hoy había una oferta de papel higiénico, así que compré dos rollos.

Why is it había and not hubo or estaba?

Había is the imperfect of haber used impersonally, meaning there was / there were. Here it sets the scene: today, there was a special offer.

• Había sounds natural for background information or a situation that existed.
• Hubo would sound more like a specific event that occurred, which is less natural here.
• Estaba would mean it was, not there was, so it would not work for introducing the existence of an offer.

So Hoy había una oferta... is a very natural way to say that earlier today there was a deal available.

Why does the sentence start with Hoy?

Starting with Hoy puts the time first and gives context immediately: Today, there was a special offer...

This is very common in Spanish. Time expressions are often placed at the beginning of the sentence to frame what follows.

You could also say Había una oferta de papel higiénico hoy, but that is less natural in this context and sounds more like an afterthought.

What exactly does una oferta mean here?

Here una oferta means a special offer, a deal, or a promotion in a shop.

In Spain, oferta is very commonly used for discounted supermarket items or limited-time deals.

It does not necessarily mean a formal offer in the English business sense. In everyday shopping Spanish, it usually means some kind of bargain.