Question 1

Why do we use the imperfect tense acabábamos here to mean 'we had just'?

Accepted Answer

The phrase acabar de followed by an infinitive means 'to have just done something.' When you want to say you had just done something in the past, you use the imperfect tense of acabar (like acabábamos). This acts as a background state right before another event happens.

Question 2

Could I put the nos before the verbs instead of attaching it to comunicar?

Accepted Answer

Yes! When you have a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive, you can either attach the pronoun to the end of the infinitive to get comunicarnos, or place it right before the conjugated verb to get Nos acabábamos de comunicar. Both mean exactly the same thing.

Question 3

Does comunicarnos mean 'communicate ourselves'?

Accepted Answer

In this context, the nos is reciprocal, meaning 'each other.' So comunicarnos means 'communicate with each other' or 'get in touch with each other,' rather than doing something to ourselves.

Question 4

Why is falló in the preterite tense while acabábamos is in the imperfect?

Accepted Answer

This is a classic 'interrupting action' scenario. The imperfect acabábamos de comunicarnos sets the background scene describing a state we were in. The preterite falló is the sudden, completed event ('when the coverage failed') that interrupts that timeline.

Question 5

Why is the verb falló placed before the subject la cobertura?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, it is very common to put the subject after the verb when the verb introduces a new event, something arriving, or something failing. You could correctly say cuando la cobertura falló, but cuando falló la cobertura sounds more natural because the sudden action itself is the focus.

Acabábamos de comunicarnos cuando falló la cobertura.

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