ELONIO
Log inSign up

Cuando la cosecha era buena, había demasiada comida en el campo.

Cuando la cosecha era buena, había demasiada comida en el campo.
When the harvest was good, there was too much food in the countryside.
From Lesson 111:Past habits with when (cuando)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Cuando la cosecha era buena, había demasiada comida en el campo.

Why do we use the imperfect verbs era and había here instead of the preterite?
This lesson focuses on using cuando (when) to talk about past habits. Because we are talking about a repeated situation in the past (meaning "whenever the harvest was good"), we use the imperfect tense for both verbs.
Is había the past tense of hay?
Exactly! Había is the imperfect past tense of hay. Just like hay means "there is" or "there are," había means "there was" or "there were" to describe ongoing situations in the past.
Why is it demasiada ending in "-a" instead of demasiado?
When a word like demasiado (too much) acts as an adjective describing a noun, it has to match that noun's gender. Since comida (food) is a feminine word, demasiado changes to demasiada.
Does campo mean "field" or "countryside"?
It means both! El campo can refer to a specific field on a farm, but it is also the standard Spanish term for "the countryside" or rural areas in general.

Learn Cuando la cosecha era buena, había demasiada comida en el campo and more in Spanish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Spanish →