Breakdown of Aunque sea caro, les dio por adoptar esa moda.
ser
to be
caro
expensive
ese
that (masculine)
les
to them / to you all
por
for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)
aunque
although / even though
darle por
to take to (doing something)
la moda
trend
adoptar
to adopt
Questions & Answers about Aunque sea caro, les dio por adoptar esa moda.
How does the phrase les dio por work in this sentence?
The structure darle por followed by an infinitive (like adoptar) is a special phrase used to express a sudden, unexpected, or capricious urge to do something. It translates roughly to "to take it into one's head to" or "to suddenly start." In this sentence, it implies that their decision to adopt the trend was a bit of a whim.
Why do we use the indirect object pronoun les instead of a subject pronoun like ellos?
This expression works a lot like the verb gustar. The sudden urge or whim is actually the grammatical subject of the sentence, and the person experiencing the whim is the indirect object. You can't say ellos dieron por; instead, the urge "gave itself to them," which is why we use les.
Why is sea in the subjunctive here? Couldn't we just say Aunque es caro?
Using the subjunctive sea changes the meaning of aunque. Aunque + subjunctive means "even if" (a hypothetical or unconfirmed situation). The speaker is saying "Even if it happens to be expensive." If the speaker had used the indicative and said Aunque es caro, it would mean "Even though it is expensive," stating its high price as an established fact.
Why is dio in the preterite tense instead of the imperfect (daba)?
Learn Aunque sea caro, les dio por adoptar esa moda and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free