Ayer me sentí frustrada al ver que el enlace no funcionaba, pero luego encontré otra forma.

Because sentirse is the usual verb for to feel when talking about emotions or states in Spanish.

• me sentí = I felt
• Literally, it is I felt myself, but in real usage it simply means I felt

So:

• Me sentí frustrada = I felt frustrated

Using just sentí is possible, but it usually means I felt something:

• Sentí dolor = I felt pain
• Sentí miedo = I felt fear

When followed by an adjective like frustrada, Spanish normally uses sentirse.

Because the adjective agrees with the speaker’s gender.

• A woman would say: me sentí frustrada
• A man would say: me sentí frustrado

Spanish adjectives often change form to match gender and number. Since the sentence uses frustrada, we understand that the speaker is female.

The preterite (sentí) is used because the speaker is describing a completed feeling at a specific moment in the past.

The sentence begins with Ayer, which places the event in a finished time frame:

• Ayer me sentí frustrada... = Yesterday I felt frustrated...

This presents the emotion as a reaction in that moment.

If you used the imperfect, me sentía frustrada, it would sound more like an ongoing background state:

• Ayer me sentía frustrada = Yesterday I was feeling frustrated

So:

• sentí = a completed emotional reaction
• sentía = a continuing emotional state

Both can be possible in other contexts, but sentí fits this sentence very naturally.

Al + infinitive is a very common Spanish structure meaning when, upon, or on doing something.

So:

• al ver = when seeing / upon seeing
• al ver que el enlace no funcionaba = when I saw that the link wasn’t working

It is a compact, natural way to express that one action triggered another.

Compare:

• Me sentí frustrada al ver... = I felt frustrated when I saw...
• Me sentí frustrada cuando vi... = also possible, and also natural

Both are correct. Al ver sounds smooth and concise.

Because after al, Spanish uses the infinitive.

The pattern is:

• al + infinitive

Examples:

• al llegar = when arriving
• al salir = when leaving
• al ver = when seeing

So al vi would be incorrect, because vi is a conjugated verb, not an infinitive.

This is a very common tense question. Here, funcionaba is in the imperfect because it describes the situation the speaker encountered at that moment.

• el enlace no funcionaba = the link wasn’t working

It gives background information: this was the state of the link when the speaker checked it.

If you said no funcionó, that would mean it didn’t work as a completed event. That is also possible in some contexts, but it feels a bit different.

Compare:

• Vi que el enlace no funcionaba = I saw that the link wasn’t working
  
  • focuses on the ongoing condition
• Vi que el enlace no funcionó = I saw that the link didn’t work
  
  • sounds more like a completed failed attempt

In this sentence, the imperfect is very natural because the speaker is describing what they discovered.

Because ver que... means to see that...

Here, que introduces a clause:

• ver que el enlace no funcionaba = to see that the link wasn’t working

This is very common in Spanish:

• Veo que estás cansado = I see that you’re tired
• Vi que había un problema = I saw that there was a problem

So que links the act of seeing with the full idea that follows.

Spanish uses definite articles (el, la, los, las) more often than English does.

So even where English may say:

• the link
• or sometimes just link in a general digital context

Spanish naturally says:

• el enlace

This is normal and not especially emphatic. It simply refers to the specific link being discussed.

In this sentence, luego means later or then:

• pero luego encontré otra forma = but then/later I found another way

You could also say pero después encontré otra forma, and it would be very similar.

In many contexts:

• luego = then / later
• después = afterwards / later

In Spain, luego is very common in everyday speech. One small thing to know is that in some contexts luego can also suggest later on, while después can feel a bit more explicitly sequential, but often they are interchangeable.

Because finding the alternative solution is presented as a completed action.

• encontré otra forma = I found another way

This happened and was completed in the past, so the preterite fits perfectly.

If you used the imperfect, encontraba, it would usually suggest repetition, description, or an incomplete action, which would not fit as well here.

So the sequence is:

• I felt frustrated
• then I found another way

Both are treated as completed past events.

Here, otra forma means another way or another method.

Literally:

• otra = another
• forma = form / way / manner

In this context, it does not mean physical shape. It means a different solution or approach.

So:

• encontré otra forma = I found another way

You could also hear:

• otra manera
• otro método

But otra forma is very natural and common.

Yes. Otra manera would also be correct and natural:

• ...pero luego encontré otra manera.

Both forma and manera can mean way in this context.

Very generally:

• forma can sound a bit broader or slightly more neutral
• manera often sounds very close in meaning and is extremely common

In everyday Spanish, both work well here.

The word order is natural, but Spanish does allow some flexibility.

The given order:

• Ayer me sentí frustrada al ver que el enlace no funcionaba, pero luego encontré otra forma.

is very standard and clear.

You could also say things like:

• Ayer, al ver que el enlace no funcionaba, me sentí frustrada, pero luego encontré otra forma.

This version puts more focus on al ver que el enlace no funcionaba.

So the original word order is not the only possible one, but it is very natural and idiomatic.

A male speaker would change only the adjective:

• Ayer me sentí frustrado al ver que el enlace no funcionaba, pero luego encontré otra forma.

Everything else stays the same.

That is because frustrado/frustrada must agree with the speaker’s gender.