Breakdown of La madre no quería que los castigáramos así.
no
no, not
la madre
mother
querer
to want
que
that / than
así
like this / like that
castigar
to punish
los
them (masculine direct object)
Questions & Answers about La madre no quería que los castigáramos así.
Why do we use the imperfect subjunctive form castigáramos here instead of the present subjunctive?
The trigger verb in the main clause, quería (wanted), is in the past tense. When a verb expressing desire, emotion, or influence is in the past tense, the verb following que must be in the imperfect subjunctive to match the timeline.
Where does the English word "us" come from in the translation? I don't see a word for "us" in the Spanish sentence.
The "us" is built into the -ramos ending of castigáramos, which is the "we" form of the verb. English uses the pattern "wanted us to punish," but Spanish phrases this as "wanted that we punish."
Why does castigáramos have an accent mark?
In the imperfect subjunctive, the nosotros (we) form always requires a written accent mark on the vowel immediately before the -ramos ending. This ensures your voice stresses the correct syllable when saying the word out loud.
Why is the pronoun los placed before castigáramos?
los is a direct object pronoun meaning "them." In Spanish, object pronouns must be placed directly before a conjugated verb. Because castigáramos is conjugated (even though it is in the subjunctive mood), los goes right in front of it.
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