Learn Spanish (Latin America): Ayer se eliminó todo lo que no era una posesión importante. - Yesterday, everything that was not an important possession was eliminated.

Ayer se eliminó todo lo que no era una posesión importante.

Yesterday, everything that was not an important possession was eliminated.

Breakdown of Ayer se eliminó todo lo que no era una posesión importante.

Questions & Answers about Ayer se eliminó todo lo que no era una posesión importante.

Why does this sentence use the indicative era instead of the subjunctive fuera after todo lo que?

We use the indicative because this sentence states a known, established fact about the past. The speaker knows exactly what was actually eliminated yesterday. If we were instead talking about a future, unknown, or hypothetical situation, such as a command to eliminate everything that isn't important, we would use the subjunctive.

The phrase todo lo que translates to "everything that", which implies multiple things. Why is the verb se eliminó singular?

In Spanish, the phrase todo lo que functions grammatically as a singular concept. Even if it refers to dozens of items in reality, the language treats it as a single collective unit. Therefore, the verbs that relate to it, like eliminó and era, must be conjugated in the singular third-person form.

Why use the passive se here with se eliminó instead of fue eliminado?

While you could grammatically say fue eliminado, Spanish strongly prefers using the passive se when talking about actions happening to inanimate objects without mentioning who performed the action. It is the most natural way to express the English passive voice in this context.

Why is eliminó in the preterite tense but era is in the imperfect tense?