Breakdown of Como tuvimos un fallo crítico, decidimos abortar.
tener
to have
un
a, an (masculine)
decidir
to decide
como
since / because (at the beginning of a sentence)
Questions & Answers about Como tuvimos un fallo crítico, decidimos abortar.
Why does the sentence start with Como instead of Porque to say "As" or "Because"?
In Spanish, when you want to state the cause at the very beginning of a sentence (meaning "since" or "as"), you almost always use Como. You generally cannot start a sentence with Porque to explain a reason. If you wanted to use porque, you'd flip the sentence: Decidimos abortar porque tuvimos un fallo crítico.
Does Como always take the indicative mood, like tuvimos here?
When como is used to mean "since" or "because" to explain a known cause, it always takes the indicative mood. You will only see como with the subjunctive when it acts as a condition (meaning "if" or "provided that"), but here it is simply stating a fact.
Could I use the imperfect tense (teníamos) instead of the preterite (tuvimos) here?
Using the preterite (tuvimos) focuses on the exact moment the failure occurred as a sudden event. If you used the imperfect (teníamos), it would sound more like descriptive background information ("As we were experiencing a failure..."). Since this was a critical event that immediately triggered a decision, the preterite is the natural choice.
What is the difference between un fallo and una falla?