Breakdown of Por más que sacaban la maleza con la pala, siempre crecía.
siempre
always
con
with
que
that / than
sacar
to take out
más
more
por
for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)
crecer
to grow
la maleza
weeds
la pala
shovel
Questions & Answers about Por más que sacaban la maleza con la pala, siempre crecía.
Why does this sentence use the indicative sacaban after por más que instead of the subjunctive?
With phrases like por más que (no matter how much), we use the indicative when declaring a known, experienced fact. The speaker is describing a repeated action that actually happened in the real world. If the action were hypothetical or unexperienced (like "No matter how much they might remove tomorrow..."), you would use the subjunctive.
Could I use por mucho que instead of por más que here?
Yes, absolutely. Por mucho que and por más que are practically interchangeable when they mean "no matter how much." Both follow the same rule: use the indicative for declared facts and the subjunctive for hypothetical or future actions.
The English translation says "weeds", but la maleza is singular. Why is the verb crecía singular too?
Why are both verbs in the imperfect tense (sacaban, crecía) rather than the preterite?
The imperfect tense is used for ongoing, repeated, or habitual actions in the past. The word siempre (always) is a strong clue here. The people were stuck in a continuous, frustrating loop: they would remove the weeds, and the weeds would just keep growing back. Using the preterite (sacaron, creció) would sound like a single, completed event.
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