Breakdown of Tenía mucho estrés, de ahí que sufriera de insomnio.
de
from / of
tener
to have
mucho
many / a lot
que
that / than
el estrés
stress
sufrir
to suffer
ahí
there (near you)
el insomnio
insomnia
Questions & Answers about Tenía mucho estrés, de ahí que sufriera de insomnio.
Why is sufriera in the imperfect subjunctive here?
The connector de ahí que is a set phrase that always triggers the subjunctive mood. Because the first half of the sentence establishes a past timeframe with the imperfect tense (Tenía), the second half must match that timeline by using the past (imperfect) subjunctive (sufriera).
Could I use sufriese instead of sufriera?
Yes, absolutely. The imperfect subjunctive has two sets of endings: -ra and -se. Both are grammatically correct and mean the exact same thing. However, in Latin America, the -ra form (sufriera) is overwhelmingly more common in both spoken and written Spanish.
Does de ahí que literally translate to "from there that"?
Literally, yes! Think of it as pointing to the origin of the problem: "from that fact comes the consequence that..." In English, it translates nicely to "hence," "therefore," or "which is why." Keep in mind that de ahí que sounds a bit more elevated or formal than an everyday alternative like por eso (which would be followed by the indicative, not the subjunctive).
Why do we say sufriera de insomnio instead of just sufriera insomnio?
When talking about medical conditions, illnesses, or chronic states, Spanish often pairs sufrir with the preposition de (to suffer from). You could drop the de and it would still be grammatically correct, but sufrir de sounds much more natural when referring to an ongoing ailment like insomnia.
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