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Después de la muerte de su esposo, ella vivía sola.

Después de la muerte de su esposo, ella vivía sola.
After her husband's death, she lived alone.
From Lesson 170:The past perfect tense (había)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Después de la muerte de su esposo, ella vivía sola.

Why use the imperfect vivía here instead of the past perfect había vivido from our current lesson?
The imperfect vivía is used because it describes an ongoing state or situation in the past (she lived alone for an unspecified period). You would only use the past perfect (había vivido) if you needed to say she had lived alone before another specific past event took place.
Why is the word sola feminine here?
Because sola (alone) is acting as an adjective describing the subject, ella (she). Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. If the sentence was about a man living alone, it would be él vivía solo.
Why do we need the word de in Después de la muerte?
When después (after) or antes (before) is followed directly by a noun or an infinitive verb, you must use de to connect them. Here it connects después to the noun la muerte (the death).
Why does it say la muerte de su esposo instead of su esposo's muerte?
Spanish never uses an apostrophe-S for possession. Instead, you always use the formula [noun] + de + [owner]. So, "her husband's death" literally translates to "the death of her husband" (la muerte de su esposo).

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