Question 1

Why is it habíamos visto instead of hemos visto?

Accepted Answer

Habíamos visto is the past perfect tense, which translates to "had seen." You use the imperfect tense of the helper verb haber (habíamos) plus the past participle (visto) to talk about an action that happened before another point in the past. If you used hemos visto (present perfect), it would mean "we have seen."

Question 2

The English translation says "such a bright constellation." Why does the Spanish use tan instead of a word for "such"?

Accepted Answer

In English, we use the pattern "such a [adjective] [noun]." Spanish doesn't translate this literally. Instead, you say "[noun] so [adjective]." Therefore, una constelación tan brillante literally means "a constellation so bright." You use tan (so) because it is directly modifying the adjective brillante.

Question 3

Could I put nunca at the end of the sentence instead of the beginning?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but Spanish requires a "double negative" if the negative word comes after the verb. If you move nunca to the end, you must put no before the verb: No habíamos visto nunca una constelación tan brillante. Starting the sentence with Nunca is often simpler and sounds very natural.

Question 4

Is visto irregular? I would have expected veído.

Accepted Answer

Yes, visto is the irregular past participle of ver (to see). While most -er verbs end in -ido in this form (like comido or bebido), ver is one of a handful of common verbs with an irregular past participle that you just have to memorize.

Nunca habíamos visto una constelación tan brillante.

Breakdown of Nunca habíamos visto una constelación tan brillante.

Questions & Answers about Nunca habíamos visto una constelación tan brillante.

Learn Nunca habíamos visto una constelación tan brillante and more in Spanish