Breakdown of Estábamos esperando en la aduana, pero nuestro vuelo ya había despegado.
pero
but
en
in / on / at
estar
to be (location/state)
nuestro
our
esperar
to wait / to hope / to expect
el vuelo
flight
ya
already / now (right now)
haber
(auxiliary) have
despegar
to take off
la aduana
customs
Questions & Answers about Estábamos esperando en la aduana, pero nuestro vuelo ya había despegado.
Why do we use había despegado here instead of just despegó?
This sentence uses the past perfect tense to describe a 'past before the past'. The main past action we are focusing on is the ongoing wait at customs (estábamos esperando). Because the flight took off before that waiting period, we use había despegado to clearly show which action was completed first.
In English we say 'had already taken off'. Why is ya placed before había instead of between había and despegado?
In Spanish, compound verbs formed with haber are treated as a single, inseparable block. You can never put an adverb or a pronoun between the auxiliary verb (había) and the past participle (despegado). Words like ya (already), siempre (always), or nunca (never) usually go right before the conjugated form of haber.
Could I just say esperábamos instead of estábamos esperando?
Yes, you can! Both esperábamos (the imperfect tense) and estábamos esperando (the past progressive) translate to 'we were waiting'. However, using the past progressive (estábamos plus the -ando form) strongly emphasizes that the action was actively in progress at that exact moment. It paints a more vivid picture of you standing there in customs while the plane was already gone.
Is despegado an adjective here, and would its ending change if the subject were feminine or plural?
No, despegado does not change its ending here. When a past participle (a verb form usually ending in -ado or -ido) is used with the auxiliary verb haber to form a perfect tense, it always ends in -o. Past participles only change to match gender and number when they are used as adjectives, such as with the verb estar or when placed right next to a noun.
Learn Estábamos esperando en la aduana, pero nuestro vuelo ya había despegado 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