Learn Spanish (Latin America): A pesar de que sufrieron mucho, su fe hizo un milagro. - Even though they suffered a lot, their faith made a miracle.

The phrase a pesar de que (even though) takes the indicative when you are declaring a known, factual event that definitely happened. Because their suffering is a real, completed fact in this story, we use the indicative. If it were a hypothetical situation (like "even if they were to suffer"), we would use the subjunctive.

Why use the preterite sufrieron rather than the imperfect sufrían for their suffering?

Both are grammatically correct, but they tell the story differently. The preterite sufrieron wraps their suffering up into a completed event or a finished period. If you used the imperfect sufrían, it would set the background scene, emphasizing that the suffering was an ongoing state at the time.

How would we say "their faith became a miracle" to practice the verb of change from this lesson?

You would use llegar a ser and say: su fe llegó a ser un milagro. The phrase llegar a ser expresses a culmination or a profound change that often follows a long process or struggle. In our original sentence, however, the faith simply "made" (hizo) a miracle.

Is the word fe (faith) masculine or feminine?