Learn Spanish (Latin America): Cuando éramos niños, nunca vimos un conflicto semejante. - When we were children, we never saw a similar conflict.

Cuando éramos niños, nunca vimos un conflicto semejante.

When we were children, we never saw a similar conflict.

Breakdown of Cuando éramos niños, nunca vimos un conflicto semejante.

to see / to look / appear

Questions & Answers about Cuando éramos niños, nunca vimos un conflicto semejante.

How does the meaning change if we put semejante before the noun?

When placed after the noun, semejante means "similar" (as in this sentence). If placed before the noun, it means "such a" and adds emphasis, usually dropping the article: nunca vimos semejante conflicto means "we never saw such a conflict!".

Why do we use the imperfect éramos but the preterite vimos here?

Éramos describes an ongoing state or background time period (being children). Vimos is used because saying you never saw something looks back at that entire period as one completed, closed block of past time.

Do we always use the article un with semejante?

When semejante comes after the noun to mean "similar," you need the article (un conflicto semejante). But when you put it before the noun to mean "such a," Spanish drops the article entirely: semejante conflicto.

Could we put nunca after the verb instead?

Yes, but you would need to add no before the verb to create a required double negative: no vimos nunca un conflicto semejante. Putting nunca before the verb is just a more concise way to say it.