Breakdown of Como el indicador mostraba un peligro, la tripulación canceló el viaje.
un
a, an (masculine)
el viaje
trip
mostrar
to show
cancelar
to cancel
el peligro
the danger
como
since / because (at the beginning of a sentence)
el indicador
the indicator
la tripulación
the crew
Questions & Answers about Como el indicador mostraba un peligro, la tripulación canceló el viaje.
Why use Como instead of Porque here to say "since" or "because"?
In Spanish, if you want to state a cause at the very beginning of a sentence to mean "since" or "because," you must use Como. You generally cannot start a sentence with Porque. If you wanted to use porque, you would flip the sentence around: La tripulación canceló el viaje porque el indicador mostraba un peligro.
Why is mostraba in the indicative mood here? Doesn't como sometimes use the subjunctive?
When como is used to mean "since" or "because" to state a real, established fact, it always takes the indicative mood (like mostraba). You only use the subjunctive with como when it acts as a condition or warning, similar to saying "If" or "Provided that."
Why are two different past tenses used here (mostraba vs. canceló)?
Since la tripulación (the crew) refers to multiple people, why is the verb canceló singular?
Tripulación is a collective noun. Even though it represents a group of people, the word itself is grammatically singular. In Spanish, verbs always agree with the grammatical form of the noun, so it must take the singular canceló rather than the plural cancelaron.
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