Breakdown of La gente quiso saber la historia de ese rey.
de
from / of
ese
that (masculine)
querer
to want
saber
to know (facts) / to hear from (someone)
la gente
the people
el rey
the king
la historia
the history
Questions & Answers about La gente quiso saber la historia de ese rey.
In English, 'people' is plural. Why does this sentence use the singular verb quiso instead of the plural quisieron?
In Spanish, la gente (the people) is a singular collective noun. Even though it refers to a group, the word itself is singular, just like the words 'crowd' or 'family' in English. Because of this, it always takes the singular 'he/she/it' verb form, which is quiso here.
Quiso doesn't look like a normal past tense verb. How is it formed?
I learned that feelings like 'wanted' usually use the imperfect past tense (quería). Why use the preterite (quiso) here?
Why does the sentence use ese rey instead of eso rey for 'that king'?
Ese is the masculine singular word for 'that' when it comes directly before a masculine noun, like rey (king). You only use eso when you are talking about an abstract idea, a situation, or an unknown object, but it is never placed right next to a noun.
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