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Estábamos corriendo, pero nos calmamos apenas vimos a los bomberos.

Estábamos corriendo, pero nos calmamos apenas vimos a los bomberos.
We were running, but we calmed down as soon as we saw the firefighters.
From Lesson 271:Immediate sequence clauses (apenas)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Estábamos corriendo, pero nos calmamos apenas vimos a los bomberos.

Why does apenas use the indicative vimos here instead of the subjunctive?
Because this event already happened. When apenas (as soon as) refers to a completed past action or a habitual action, it takes the indicative. If the sentence were about a future, pending action, you would use the subjunctive (apenas veamos a los bomberos meaning "as soon as we see the firefighters").
Is calmamos in the present tense or the past tense here?
It is in the preterite (past) tense. For regular -ar verbs, the nosotros form is spelled exactly the same in both the present and the preterite. The surrounding past tense verbs (estábamos and vimos) give us the context to know it means "we calmed down" rather than "we calm down."
Why is it nos calmamos instead of just calmamos?
The verb here is calmarse (to calm down), which is reflexive because the action reflects back on the subjects doing it (we calmed ourselves). If you just said calmamos a los bomberos, it would mean "we calmed the firefighters down."
Why is there an a right before los bomberos?
This is the "personal a." In Spanish, whenever the direct object of a verb is a specific person or group of people, like the firefighters, you must place an a right before it.

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