Learn Spanish (Latin America): Me asustó que la ovación fuera ensordecedora. - It scared me that the ovation was deafening.

Me asustó que la ovación fuera ensordecedora.

It scared me that the ovation was deafening.

Breakdown of Me asustó que la ovación fuera ensordecedora.

to me / me (direct object)

asustar

to scare

Questions & Answers about Me asustó que la ovación fuera ensordecedora.

Why do we use fuera here instead of fue or era?

This sentence uses a past evaluative clause. The main verb asustó expresses an emotion in the past. When a past emotion or judgment introduces a change of subject (from the situation scaring you to la ovación), the verb in the connected que clause must be in the imperfect subjunctive. Here, that form is fuera.

Is fuera coming from the verb ser or ir in this sentence?

It comes from ser (to be). We know this from context because it describes a characteristic of the ovation: it was deafening. The verbs ser and ir share the exact same forms in the imperfect subjunctive, just like they do in the preterite tense.

Why is the sentence structured as Me asustó que... instead of using a "yo" form?

The verb asustar means "to frighten" or "to scare." In Spanish, the thing that causes the fear is the subject of the sentence, and the person experiencing the fear is the object. So, Me asustó que... literally translates to "That [the ovation was deafening] frightened me."

How is the adjective ensordecedora formed?