Breakdown of El oso comía fruta cuando apareció un insecto grande.
comer
to eat
un
a, an (masculine)
grande
big
la fruta
fruit
cuando
when (statement)
aparecer
to appear
el oso
bear
el insecto
insect
Questions & Answers about El oso comía fruta cuando apareció un insecto grande.
Why is comía in the imperfect tense but apareció is in the preterite?
Could I say el oso estaba comiendo instead of el oso comía?
Yes, you can! Estaba comiendo (was eating) is the past progressive and means almost exactly the same thing here. However, Spanish speakers often just use the imperfect tense (comía) to describe actions that were in progress in the past.
Why is it insecto grande and not grande insecto?
In Spanish, descriptive adjectives like grande (large) usually come after the noun they describe. So, 'a large insect' becomes un insecto grande (literally 'an insect large').
Why is there no accent mark on cuando?
Cuando only gets an accent mark (cuándo) when it is used in a question, like 'When did it appear?'. Here, it is just connecting the background action and the interruption, so it does not need an accent.
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