Tuvimos un problema en la fila del aeropuerto.

Questions & Answers about Tuvimos un problema en la fila del aeropuerto.

Why is it tuvimos instead of a regular spelling like "tenimos"?
Tuvimos is the "we" form of tener (to have) in the preterite past tense. Tener is highly irregular in this tense: its stem changes completely to tuv-, and it adds the ending -imos. You use this past tense here because having the problem was a single, completed event.
Problema ends in "-a". Why does it use the masculine article un instead of una?
Even though it ends in -a, problema is a masculine noun, so it must use un (or el). Many Spanish words ending in -ma (like el idioma or el sistema) originally come from Greek and are masculine. It is a common exception you just have to memorize!
Could I use línea instead of fila for the airport line?
In most of Latin America, una fila is the specific word used for a line of people waiting (a queue). Una línea is usually a drawn line (like on a piece of paper) or a telephone line, so using it for a line of people would sound strange here.
Why is it del instead of de el aeropuerto?
Whenever the word de (of/from) is followed directly by the masculine word el (the), they must squeeze together into the single word del. This makes it flow better when speaking. Since aeropuerto is masculine, "of the airport" becomes del aeropuerto.

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