Question 1

Why is repararan in the imperfect subjunctive?

Accepted Answer

The phrase Era importante que (It was important that) is an impersonal expression that shows opinion or urgency in the past. Just like es importante que triggers the present subjunctive, the past tense era importante que requires the imperfect (past) subjunctive.

Question 2

How is repararan formed in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

It is built from the third-person plural preterite (the 'they' form in the simple past) of reparar, which is repararon. You drop the -ron to get the stem repara-, and then add the new endings. Since the subject is 'they', we add -ran to make repararan.

Question 3

The beginning of the sentence is in the past (Era importante), so why is estamos mirando in the present?

Accepted Answer

The sentence mixes timeframes because it reflects reality! It was important in the past that the city repair the pothole, but the pothole was never fixed, so we are looking at it right now (estamos mirando). The relative clause (que estamos mirando) just describes what is happening in the present moment.

Question 4

Could I use the -se ending here and say reparasen?

Accepted Answer

Yes, reparasen is grammatically correct and means the exact same thing. However, the -ra endings (like repararan) are much more common in everyday spoken Spanish, especially in Latin America.

Question 5

Is bache the only word for pothole?

Accepted Answer

Bache is the most common word for a pothole in the road across Latin America. As a bonus, you can also use it metaphorically to mean a 'rough patch' in life, like saying you are going through an emotional bache.

Era importante que repararan el bache que estamos mirando.

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