Breakdown of Nunca olvidaría lo velozmente que abriste el paracaídas.
abrir
to open
que
that / than
nunca
never
olvidar
to forget
lo
the ... thing (neuter article)
velozmente
swiftly
el paracaídas
parachute
Questions & Answers about Nunca olvidaría lo velozmente que abriste el paracaídas.
How does lo velozmente que translate to 'how swiftly'?
Why is it el paracaídas if the word ends in '-s'? Is it plural?
Paracaídas is a compound noun made from the verb parar (to stop) and the plural noun caídas (falls). Like many compound nouns in Spanish (such as el abrelatas for can opener or el paraguas for umbrella), it is always masculine and uses the exact same form for both singular and plural. The singular article el tells us it means 'the parachute' rather than 'the parachutes'.
Olvidaría could mean 'I would forget' or 'he/she would forget'. How do we know it means 'I' here?
The conditional tense form olvidaría is identical for the first person (yo) and the third person (él, ella, usted). Without a pronoun or surrounding context, it can refer to any of those. In this standalone sentence, 'I' is just the most natural assumption. If you wanted to remove all ambiguity, you would add yo before nunca.
Could I use qué tan velozmente instead of lo velozmente que in this sentence?
No, because this isn't an indirect question. You use qué tan when there is an actual unknown element, like asking 'I wonder how swiftly you opened it'. But here, the speaker already knows how fast it happened and is emphasizing the intensity of that speed. For expressing this kind of extreme degree or exclamation, the lo + adverb + que structure is required.
Learn Nunca olvidaría lo velozmente que abriste el paracaídas 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