Breakdown of El invitado arrogante nos menospreció como si hubiéramos arruinado el banquete.
nos
to us
como
as / like (such as, similar to)
el invitado
the guest
haber
(auxiliary) have
si
if
arruinar
to ruin
el banquete
banquet
arrogante
arrogant
menospreciar
to look down on
Questions & Answers about El invitado arrogante nos menospreció como si hubiéramos arruinado el banquete.
Why do we use hubiéramos arruinado instead of the regular past perfect habíamos arruinado here?
The phrase como si (as if) always triggers the subjunctive because it sets up a hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situation. Since the imagined action of ruining the banquet happened before the guest looked down on us, we use the past perfect subjunctive: hubiéramos plus the past participle arruinado.
What is the exact breakdown of the verb menospreció?
Could I use hubiésemos arruinado instead of hubiéramos arruinado in this sentence?
Yes, you can. The past subjunctive has two sets of endings (-ra and -se). Hubiésemos arruinado is completely grammatically correct and means the exact same thing, though the -ra form used here is much more common in everyday Latin American Spanish.
Why does the pronoun nos go before menospreció rather than being attached to it?
Nos is a direct object pronoun representing "us". Since menospreció is a standard conjugated verb in the preterite tense, the pronoun must be placed immediately before it. You can only attach pronouns directly to the end of infinitives, gerunds, or affirmative commands.
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