Breakdown of Me fascinó que el espectáculo deslumbrara a todos.
que
that / than
me
to me / me (direct object)
todo
all / everything
el espectáculo
the show
Questions & Answers about Me fascinó que el espectáculo deslumbrara a todos.
Why is deslumbrara in the imperfect subjunctive instead of the past indicative?
The main verb, fascinó, expresses an emotion or judgment in the past. Just like in the present tense where verbs of emotion trigger the subjunctive (for example, me fascina que deslumbre), a past tense emotion requires the past (imperfect) subjunctive in the dependent clause.
Why is the singular fascinó used here if 'everyone' was dazzled?
Verbs like fascinar work exactly like gustar. The subject of fascinó is not 'I' or 'everyone', but rather the entire action that follows: que el espectáculo deslumbrara a todos. Because an entire clause is treated as a single abstract idea, the verb taking it as a subject must be in the third-person singular.
Why is there an a before todos?
This is the personal a. Even though todos (everyone) is a broad, indefinite pronoun, it refers to people. Since these people are the direct object of the verb deslumbrara (they are the ones receiving the dazzling), Spanish requires the personal a before the pronoun.
Could I use deslumbrase instead of deslumbrara here?